Synonyms

endorse

American

[en-dawrs] / ɛnˈdɔrs /

verb (used with object)

to approve, support, or sustain.

to endorse a political candidate.

Synonyms:

second, back, sustain, uphold, ratify, sanction
to designate oneself as payee of (a check) by signing, usually on the reverse side of the instrument.
to sign one's name on (a commercial document or other instrument).
to make over (a stated amount) to another as payee by one's endorsement.
to write (something) on the back of a document, paper, etc..

to endorse instructions; to endorse one's signature.
to acknowledge (payment) by placing one's signature on a bill, draft, etc.

noun

Heraldry. a narrow pale, about one quarter the usual width and usually repeated several times.

endorse British

/ ɪnˈdɔːs /

verb

to give approval or sanction to
to sign (one's name) on the back of (a cheque, etc) to specify oneself as payee
commerce
1. to sign the back of (a negotiable document) to transfer ownership of the rights to a specified payee
2. to specify (a designated sum) as transferable to another as payee
to write (a qualifying comment, recommendation, etc) on the back of a document
to sign (a document), as when confirming receipt of payment
to record (a conviction) on (a driving licence)

"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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of endorse

First recorded in 1350–1400; variant (with en- for in- ) of earlier indorse, from Medieval Latin indorsāre “to endorse,” equivalent to Latin in- in- ² + -dorsāre, derivative of dorsum “back”; replacing endoss, Middle English endossen, from Old French endosser, equivalent to en- en- ¹ + -dosser, derivative of dos, from Latin dorsum

Explanation

To endorse is to give support to someone or something. "I endorse this!" means "I think this is a good thing, and so should you." People endorse in many ways. When someone endorses a politician, it means "You should vote for this person, and I'm putting my reputation on the line to say so." When someone endorses a product in a commercial, it means "Go buy this! You'll like it." To endorse is to give support. You can also endorse a check, which means writing your name or someone else's on the back so that you or the other person can cash or deposit it.

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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:

endorse endorses endorsed endorsing

When measles started circulating last year, Kennedy was slow to endorse the MMR shot and hawked ineffective measles treatments.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

But his decision to endorse a major offshore oil exploration project off the coast of the Amazon has garnered virulent criticism from activists.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

For 70 years, it has operated under one rule: It cannot endorse a political candidate.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

And there is a precedent in these situations for opponents not to put up candidates - and to argue they are not going to endorse what they see as a publicity stunt by taking part.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Politicians and law enforcement officials today rarely endorse racially biased practices, and most of them fiercely condemn racial discrimination of any kind.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

The U.S. endorses that approach, a senior American official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

As she runs for mayor, the Los Angeles chapter of the DSA hopes to expand its power as it endorses a new slate of 2026 candidates for City Council, city attorney and L.A. school board.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

In a statement Boutcher said he endorses the recommendation calling for the government identification of Stakeknife.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026

Wilkins in 1884 – just 16 years after the ratification of the 14th Amendment – endorses “the principle that no one can become a citizen of a nation without its consent.”

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2025

Even more extreme is the case where a celebrity endorses a diet or medicine or whatever, in which case we have a sample of one, and generally a paid sample at that.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Momentum investing has paid huge dividends over time, and it is strongly endorsed by academic research, but the returns can be lumpy — you will occasionally get a very nasty spell of underperformance.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

In a livestream of the summit he did not explain what measures he endorsed -- saying there were "two competing views" over the ETFs tied to national flagship tech firms.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Kleban, though, is close to Gov. Janet Mills; he endorsed her after dropping out of the Senate race the first time.

From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026

Had there ever been a law code that explicitly endorsed illegality?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

At safe houses arranged by the organization, I met the editor of the liberal Port Elizabeth Evening Post to discuss the campaign for a national convention, a goal several newspapers subsequently endorsed.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

There's scant to no clinical evidence supporting such promises, and doctors have voiced concern that endorsing weakly understood if trendy substances could direct patients away from treatments backed by evidence.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

The Guardian reported last week that as the World Cup neared its successful conclusion, nearly 200 of FIFA’s 211 member associations are endorsing Infantino’s bid for reelection to a fourth term as president next March.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

The Fire Brigades Union, Unite and shopworkers' union Usdaw had all previously confirmed they would be endorsing him.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

“It seems to me that you can read all of these old decisions as endorsing the proposition that the court has decided that this is really not a very strong argument,” Greenberg said.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

They probably assumed that now those famous “leaders” were endorsing and joining them.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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