admire

American

[ad-mahyuhr] / ædˈmaɪər /

verb (used with object)

admired, admiring

to regard with wonder, pleasure, or approval.

Synonyms:

venerate, revere, esteem

Antonyms:

despise
to regard with wonder or surprise (usually used ironically or sarcastically).

I admire your audacity.

verb (used without object)

admired, admiring

to feel or express admiration.
Dialect. to take pleasure; like or desire.

I would admire to go.

idioms

be admiring of, to admire.

He's admiring of his brother's farm.

admire British

/ ədˈmaɪə /

verb

to regard with esteem, respect, approval, or pleased surprise
archaic to wonder at

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

admirer noun
admiring adjective
admiringly adverb
preadmire verb (used with object)
quasi-admire verb
unadmired adjective

Etymology

Origin of admire

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin admīrārī, equivalent to ad- ad- + mīrārī (in Medieval Latin mīrāre ) “to wonder at, admire”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Greene did not play, but what he continues to do off the field is admired and much appreciated.

From Los Angeles Times

Isak was watching on the from the sidelines and could only glance admiringly towards Ekitike's role in turning the game around.

From Barron's

And I admire that she never tried to stop me from digging up the past.

From The Wall Street Journal

They clustered around Christopher and Mal, and he bent down to admire them.

From Literature

Mr. Chiasson has written an admiring, even loving, account of the life of a man he observed from “a front-row seat.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023