esteem
Americanverb (used with object)
-
esteems,
present (3rd person singular)
-
esteemed,
past participle, past
-
esteeming
present participle
noun
-
favorable opinion or judgment; respect or regard.
to hold a person in esteem.
- Synonyms:
- veneration, reverence, honor, admiration, favor
-
Archaic. opinion or judgment; estimation; valuation.
verb
-
to have great respect or high regard for
to esteem a colleague
-
formal to judge or consider; deem
to esteem an idea improper
noun
-
high regard or respect; good opinion
-
archaic judgment; opinion
Usage
What are other ways to say esteem? If you esteem someone, you hold them in high regard. How is esteem different from appreciate, value, and prize? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Synonym Usage
See respect.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
esteemsimple
-
esteemssimple
-
have esteemedperfect
-
has esteemedperfect
-
am esteemingprogressive
-
are esteemingprogressive
-
is esteemingprogressive
-
have been esteemingperfect progressive
-
has been esteemingperfect progressive
Past
-
esteemedsimple
-
had esteemedperfect
-
was esteemingprogressive
-
were esteemingprogressive
-
had been esteemingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of esteem
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English estemen, from Middle French estimer, from Latin aestimāre “to fix the value of”
Explanation
Esteem is all about respect and admiration. If you have high self-esteem, it means you like yourself. When you say, "My esteemed colleagues," you are saying you have nothing but the highest respect for them. Esteem derives from the same Latin word that gives us estimate, and back in the day, esteem, like estimate meant "to assess, or judge the value of something." That sense lingers today. When you say you hold someone in high esteem, it means you give them a high value. Unless you're a politician, in which case, when you say, "I hold my opponent in high esteem," you are most likely to follow that statement with a big "But...."
Vocabulary lists containing esteem
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Things Fall Apart
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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.
See Examples For:
Chevron’s pole position garnered it some measure of political esteem in Washington and Caracas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The pair were united by a shared concern for the rights of migrants and held each other in great esteem, despite cultural and religious differences.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
It’s been a beacon of democracy since its founding, and countries all over the world have held it in such high esteem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Mentoring played a massive part in my upbringing, and sports teachers and coaches were always held in great esteem.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
Many others earned the esteem of their fellow chemists and physicists even if they fell short of the ultimate honor—a Nobel Prize.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
“I know that he esteems her a lot, like all the Jesuits of Argentina and Uruguay, because they consider her their spiritual mother,” Correale told The Associated Press in the runup to the ceremony.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 11, 2024
The great irony, or the sublime absurdity, is that like a priest who practices his faith after the death of God, Daoud esteems Camus even as he exposes the Nobel Prize-winning writer’s blind spots.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 1, 2015
PEN esteems not only exquisite literature, but also the right of all people to express themselves.
From Slate ● May 6, 2015
This is not contributing to a culture that esteems them.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2012
He esteems you so highly, Prince; he is so sincerely attached to you!”
From Uncle's dream; And The Permanent Husband by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
In a country that esteemed practicality, fiction was enlisted to speak directly to a cause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Immigrants lived near the mission, and esteemed Spanish Mexican families lived in large mansions around the churches that dot Old Town in the mid-19th century — many came post-Spanish-Mexican wars.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
The 36-year-old, who co-ran the esteemed Fulgurances restaurant in Paris and New York before opening Gigi's this month, said his pricing falls in line with industry standards.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Berardelli, an esteemed coach in Kenya who has described Sawe as a "special one", instantly recognised his marathon potential and moved him away from the track.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
“Dr. Zinchenko? Will you kindly take over? I must go assemble our esteemed panel of judges.”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
What nudged Americans from esteeming fastidious high-culture figures like Muck to idolizing personally crude pop-culture stars like Ruth?
From Washington Post ● Jun. 4, 2020
The Russians, esteeming ceremony as a proud proletarian power should, outdid themselves in welcome.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tell Arts they have no soundness, But vary by esteeming; Tell Schools they lack profoundness And stand too much on seeming: If Arts and Schools reply, Give Arts and Schools the lie.
From Tablets by Amos Bronson Alcott
Whether that he was less on his guard on this evening, or that, esteeming Tate's perceptions at no very high rate, so it is, he talked more freely and unadvisedly than was his wont.
From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever
“Trial of all who judged best In esteeming the love of a man.”
From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Edward Berdoe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
