v. 1
To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.
I encouraged him during his race.
v. 2
To spur on, strongly recommend.
We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.
v. 3
To foster, give help or patronage.
The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.

Related words

Word family: encouragement encourager encouraging

Forms

Past participle: encouraged
e.g. encouraged → promoted, urged, motivated, stimulated…

Choose the right word

Encourage, Advocate, Aid, Support, Uphold or Incite?

A clergyman will advocate the claims of justice, aid the poor, encourage the despondent, support the weak, uphold the constituted authorities; but he will not incite to a quarrel, instigate a riot, or abet a crime.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

promote We must promote commerce with neighboring countries.
urge Try to resist the urge to pick your nose, darling.
inspire We may give advice, but we do not inspire conduct.
motivate The teachers are trying to motivate their students.
foster Yanni moved around from foster home to foster home.
nurture You need patience to nurture new skills and talents.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
encourage		steady
promote		rising
urge		falling
inspire		rising
motivate		rising
foster		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: help¹, push¹, feed¹, urge¹, spur¹
5 letters: raise¹, boost¹, rally², impel²
6 letters: foster², invite², assure², advise², prompt¹, induce², foment², exhort²
7 letters: support², further², forward², advance², promote², comfort², inspire², nurture², nourish², enliven³
8 letters: advocate³, motivate³, embolden³
9 letters: stimulate³, cultivate³, instigate³, patronize³, patronise
10 letters: strengthen²

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rally² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: encourager
Deutsch: ermuntern