Meaning & use
discount someone
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To treat someone or what they say as unimportant and not worth serious attention.
Grammar: Takes an object: discount someone's opinion. Often used with words like feelings, worries, or concerns as the object.
Patterns
- discount someone's feelings
- discount someone's concerns
- discount what someone says
The manager discounted her concerns and went ahead with the plan.
When teachers discount a student's worries, that student may stop asking for help.
He felt his years of experience were being discounted by the new team.
verbtransitivedisapproving
To refuse to believe that someone is capable or important, often unfairly.
Grammar: Takes a person as the object: discount someone. Often used in the passive: be discounted.
Patterns
- discount someone as something
- be discounted as something
The young coach was discounted as too inexperienced to lead the club.
She was discounted by her rivals long before the election results came in.
Don't discount him just because he speaks quietly.
Word forms
| third person singular | discounts someone |
|---|---|
| past tense | discounted someone |
| past participle | discounted someone |
| -ing form | discounting someone |
Common combinations
- discount someone's feelings
- It is unkind to discount someone's feelings when they are upset.
- discount someone's concerns
- The board discounted the residents' concerns about noise.
- discount what someone says
- Good scientists do not discount what someone says just because it is surprising.
- be discounted as too young
- She was discounted as too young for the role, which was unfair.
- quickly discount someone
- He quickly discounted her idea without asking any questions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dismiss
- Dismiss is stronger and often means to send an idea or person away as not worth considering at all.
- ignore
- Ignore means to pay no attention to someone, while discount someone suggests you have heard them but decided they do not matter.
- belittle
- Belittle focuses on making someone seem small or unimportant, often by what you say, not just by ignoring them.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: discount someone or discount?
discount someone vs discount
As a noun, discount means a price reduction. The verb discount someone is about treating a person or their views as unimportant, not about money.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'discount someone' in the most natural way?
Choose one answer.
'Discount someone' means to treat their views as unimportant, so 'discounted her worries' fits. The first option uses discount as a money verb, and the last two use it as if it were 'went' or 'met', which is not correct.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “discount someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.