admire

[ ad-mahyuhr ]

verb (used with object)

, ad·mired, ad·mir·ing.

1. to regard with wonder, pleasure, or approval.

   Synonyms: venerate, revere, esteem

   Antonyms: despise

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

   I admire your audacity.

verb (used without object)

, ad·mired, ad·mir·ing.

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

   I would admire to go.

admire

/ ədˈmaɪə /

verb

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

Derived Forms

• adˈmirer, noun
• adˈmiring, adjective
• adˈmiringly, adverb

Other Words From

• ad·mir·er noun
• pre·ad·mire verb (used with object) preadmired preadmiring
• qua·si-ad·mire verb quasiadmired quasiadmiring
• un·ad·mired adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of admire¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of admire¹

C16: from Latin admīrāri to wonder at, from ad- to, at + mīrāri to wonder, from mīrus wonderful

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. be admiring of, Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to admire:

   He's admiring of his brother's farm.

Example Sentences

People have a complicated relationship with robots, torn between admiring them, fearing them, rejecting them, and even boycotting them, as has happened in the automobile industry.

From Singularity Hub 

I admire anybody who can look forward, and make a statement about 2021.

From Fortune

Russell, a player he admired above all others, scored 19 points for Boston, with 32 rebounds and five blocked shots.

From Washington Post

It was a publishing company, based in New York, whose product I really admired.

From Fortune

So, the second rookie mistake, I would say, was that because I trust and admire Gerard and his experience greatly, I did not put a great deal of oversight over the company.

From Freakonomics

Something about it I admire and something about it I find unpersuasive.

From The Daily Beast

He also recalls the many visitors who would often go to the island to admire its harvests and wildlife.

From The Daily Beast

You have to admire his convictions; most frustrated auteurs in this town just call such things “an Alan Smithee project.”

From The Daily Beast

He allows the subject to float over to Hitchcock with a calm directness that I admire.

From The Daily Beast

It rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen.

From The Daily Beast

Let them that sail on the sea, tell the dangers thereof: and when we hear with our ears, we shall admire.

From Project Gutenberg

I'd admire to see him cavorting around on the pinnacles after horse-thieves or whisky-runners or a bunch of bad Indians.

From Project Gutenberg

We idlers had permission granted us to land and visit the town, in which, however, we found but little to admire.

From Project Gutenberg

The dining room was for the souls of the locals, who could admire the desert more conveniently than find a good meal.

From Project Gutenberg

I greatly admire his character, but he positively could not have made his way along the fire trenches I inspected yesterday.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adore
• applaud
• appreciate
• cherish
• commend
• credit
• extol
• hail
• honor
• idolize
• laud
• marvel at
• praise
• prize
• respect
• revere
• treasure
• worship