extol
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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extollmentnoun
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superextollverb (used with object)
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extollernoun
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superextolverb (used with object)
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extollinglyadverb
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extolmentnoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has extolledperfect 3rd person singular
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have extolledperfect
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is extollingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are extollingprogressive
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has been extollingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been extollingperfect progressive
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extollingparticiple
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extolssingular 3rd person
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am extollingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
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had extolledperfect
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had been extollingperfect progressive
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were extollingprogressive plural
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was extollingprogressive singular
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extolledsimple
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extolledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of extol
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English extollen, from Latin extollere “to lift up, raise,” equivalent to ex- ex- 1 + tollere “to lift, raise up”
Explanation
If you have a crush on a guy who likes your best friend, it can be very depressing to listen to him extol your friend's virtues, while you just nod and smile. If you extol something, you praise it very highly. The Bible says: "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven..." Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the second Babylonian Empire, the one who sent the Jews into exile. In some translations of the Bible, the word honor is replaced with glorify. Praise, extol, honor, glorify all mean about the same. The use of multiple synonymous words in a given sentence is a frequent motif in the Bible.
Vocabulary lists containing extol
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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.
Also, I am afraid your columns do not sufficiently extol the value of work, which Voltaire rightly claimed protects us from the evils of boredom, vice, and poverty.
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
In a statement Monday, Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, the company behind the London festival, said Ye isn’t being given “a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
That’s because after DJ Khaled and Kenan Thompson extol the virtues of this miracle drug, a voiceover recounts a litany of potential side effects—vomiting, diarrhea, kidney problems, things of that nature.
From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026
The instant she finished a novel, she would extol its virtues and demand we go to the Iliad or the Last Bookstore to get the author’s next offering.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026
It is, in any case, another reason to extol, not begrudge, the fundamental innovativeness of the Ptolemaic state.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
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.
