Abuse
Abuse verb - To inflict physical or emotional harm upon.
Discourage and abuse are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Discourage" instead a verb "Abuse".
Discourage
Discourage verb - To lessen the courage or confidence of.
Abuse and discourage are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Abuse" instead a verb "Discourage".
Nearby Words: discouragement, discouraging
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- The well-intentioned but hopelessly hamfisted effort to discourage drug abuse roped in characters from Disney, Warner Bros., DiC Entertainment, Jim Henson, ALF... few studios were spared, resulting in a What Were You Thinking?
Source: Weird Crossover -
This is mainly to discourage people from trying to abuse their power.
Source: Blog / Ask Twixie Genies - Loophole Abuse: It's an unspoken rule of common courtesy to not eavesdrop on other contestants' confessionals, and Scarlett takes advantage of that enough times that Chris has to instate a rule and measures to prevent this and discourage future eavesdropping.
Cite this Source
Discourage and Abuse. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 28, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/abuse/discourage
Abuse & Discourage. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/abuse/discourage>.
Discourage or Abuse. 2016. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/abuse/discourage.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "abuse" and "discourage" have occurred on timeline