inspired
Americanadjective
-
aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.
an inspired poet.
-
resulting from such inspiration.
an inspired poem;
an inspired plan.
-
inhaled.
inspired air.
adjective
-
aroused or guided by or as if aroused or guided by divine inspiration
an inspired performance
she was like one inspired
-
extremely accurate or apt but based on intuition rather than knowledge or logical deduction
an inspired guess
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inspired
Explanation
Inspired is an adjective that describes something of excellent quality. If your singing in a choral concert is particularly inspired, people can hear your voice hitting all the right notes beautifully. If something is so extraordinary that it's worthy of being described as inspired, you might think that the gods had something to do with its creation. In fact, inspired originally meant "directly inspired by God or gods." It comes from the Latin in-"in" and spirare "to breathe." Maybe such supernatural power did breathe life into something truly excellent. Or maybe the humans just worked very hard and had a great idea.
Vocabulary lists containing inspired
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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.
Its unusual appearance inspired a name drawn from ancient Chinese mythology.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026
"There are lots of famous northern comics," said the writer, whose own work was inspired by the likes of Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett and Morecambe and Wise.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Spates of them appear every couple of years, often inspired by surveys of financial contentment like Goldman’s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Looking back now, the decision is even more inspired than it was then: a bold, personal choice that helped Coppola’s film stand out from the otherwise stuffy welcome it was bound to receive.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
But that orphans’ home inspired no inklings of thankfulness in my heart.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
