Antonyms for the word encourage include discourage, deter, hinder, dissuade, and dishearten. If someone were to discourage another person, they would be trying to prevent them from doing something or trying to break their spirit. Deter and hinder have similar meanings, where they both suggest stopping someone from doing something they intend to do. Dissuade also means to convince someone not to try something or change their mind about it. Dishearten means to cause someone to lose hope, enthusiasm, or confidence. Each of these antonyms has the opposite intention of the word encourage and urges the opposite result.