The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 10 letter word DISCOURAGE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
D
I
S
C
O
U
R
A
G
E
More clues leading to the result DISCOURAGE
- Try to prevent dance craze gripping university
- Record how old we are to cause despair!
- Put off record given the years we’ve been around
- Record how old we are to dampen enthusiasm
- Make gloomy record on the period we live in
- Record our time and dampen spirits
- I clean silver in Germany and pour on cold water
- Pour cold water on gramophone record – how long have we been here?
- Iago cursed, getting put off?
- Put off, seeing pop style madness surrounding ‘Posh’
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "dampen enthusiasm" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case dampen enthusiasm = discourage.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DISCOURAGE mean?
DISCOURAGE noun- Lack of courage
- To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject.
- To persuade somebody not to do (something).