These words sound the same in speech, but their spellings and meanings are different. Homophones are words that are pronounced the same, but have different spellings and meanings. The meanings of inspirit and encourage largely overlap however, inspirit, somewhat literary, implies instilling life, energy, courage, or vigor into something. While not exactly the same as words that have more than one meaning, homophones are closely related to homonyms and homographs. The words hearten and encourage can be used in similar contexts, but hearten implies the lifting of dispiritedness or despondency by an infusion of fresh courage or zeal.Ī hospital patient heartened by good news Where would inspirit be a reasonable alternative to encourage? While the synonyms embolden and encourage are close in meaning, embolden implies the giving of courage sufficient to overcome timidity or reluctance.Įmboldened by her first success, she tried an even more difficult climb When is hearten a more appropriate choice than encourage? The teacher's praise encouraged the students to greater efforts When might embolden be a better fit than encourage? While all these words mean "to fill with courage or strength of purpose," encourage suggests the raising of one's confidence especially by an external agency. Some common synonyms of encourage are embolden, hearten, and inspirit. Frequently Asked Questions About encourage How does the verb encourage differ from other similar words?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |