adore
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to love intensely or deeply
-
to worship (a god) with religious rites
-
informal (tr) to like very much
I adore chocolate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
adorernoun
-
adoringadjective
-
unadoredadjective
-
unadoringadjective
-
adoringlyadverb
-
unadoringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
adoresimple
-
adoressimple
-
have adoredperfect
-
has adoredperfect
-
am adoringprogressive
-
are adoringprogressive
-
is adoringprogressive
-
have been adoringperfect progressive
-
has been adoringperfect progressive
Past
-
adoredsimple
-
had adoredperfect
-
was adoringprogressive
-
were adoringprogressive
-
had been adoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of adore
First recorded in 1275–1325; from Latin adōrāre “to speak to, pray, worship,” from ad- ad- + ōrāre “to beg, plead, speak” ( see oration); replacing Middle English aour(i)e, from Old French aourer, from Latin
Explanation
Someone you adore gets put on a pedestal. Considering your fear of germs, when you told me that you had shared a toothbrush — I knew you must adore her! Adore comes from the Latin word adorare, meaning “to worship.” So when you adore someone, it's more than just a crush. However, like many words of strong emotion, adore gets used in lighter situations as well. Your aunt tells me you just adore the miniature fruitcakes she sends you every holiday.
Vocabulary lists containing adore
Love Letter Words for Valentine's Day
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Words for Carolers
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
But if you really adore the art form, Letterboxd’s popularity is a rare net positive in an era when tech is largely being used to pit humanity against art and each other.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
“As a full-time solo RV woman I absolutely adore this!” one person wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Two nations who adore their football teams, meeting in 'Magic City'.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Build a character we’d adore and kill them, from nowhere, in the second to last episode of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
“I loved it. I just adore airplanes. They’re so cute.”
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
From musty star maps to ratty psychics, the movie so adores Los Angeles that Thomas Lennon’s hair stylist character is a riff on local billboard king Chaz Dean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The 54-year-old fisherman from a small village in Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi, has been a superfan of the Argentine football team since the 1980s and adores superstar Lionel Messi.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
If the best way to hit it big is to make a podcast that someone like Altman adores, then the rest of us are probably in trouble.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2026
Martin, who turns 74 on Sunday, reached his milestone with Celtic, a club he adores, so it must have been something special.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
“My dad adores this place. He brings all his clients here.”
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
The futile paradox of these so-called live-action adaptations is they require a tsunami of pixels to surround actual human performers with everything audiences adored the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
He purchased the truck after an accident totaled his older Ranger, which he also adored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The fact that we were about to fall asleep in the same city as dozens of celebrities we both adored?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
He ditched his British oil paints in favour of bright, Californian acrylics but retained his Bradford accent - which the Americans adored.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
My younger brothers adored running the machine and begged to take a turn, but you had to watch them—they were murder on the crank.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
But since then he has done exactly that, many times and to great effect for adoring fans around the world throughout the band's big-selling reunion tour last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
After the final whistle, striker Mehdi Taremi thanked the adoring crowd but decried the impact of the war on his squad, from absent staff to grueling travel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
One shot shows Sophia Loren lifting a champagne glass beneath the adoring gaze of fans.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
"It's like a full-circle moment, very meaningful for me," she told the crowd as an adoring Carpenter looked on.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
She imagined this was similar—only she was moving a thousand times faster, and the grass blades weren’t adoring fans.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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.
