praise
Americannoun
-
the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation.
- Synonyms:
- compliment, approbation, applause, plaudit, acclamation
- Antonyms:
- condemnation
-
the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship.
a hymn of praise to God.
-
the state of being approved or admired.
The king lived in praise for many years.
-
Archaic. a ground for praise, or a merit.
verb (used with object)
-
praises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
praised,
past participle, past
-
praising
present participle
idioms
noun
-
the act of expressing commendation, admiration, etc
-
the extolling of a deity or the rendering of homage and gratitude to a deity
-
the condition of being commended, admired, etc
-
archaic the reason for praise
-
to commend someone highly
verb
-
to express commendation, admiration, etc, for
-
to proclaim or describe the glorious attributes of (a deity) with homage and thanksgiving
Synonym Usage
See approve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
praisernoun
-
self-praisenoun
-
superpraisenoun
-
outpraiseverb (used with object)
-
repraiseverb (used with object)
-
half-praisedadjective
-
half-praisingadjective
-
praisefuladjective
-
praiselessadjective
-
self-praisingadjective
-
unpraisedadjective
-
unpraisefuladjective
-
unpraisingadjective
-
praisefullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
praisesimple
-
praisessimple
-
have praisedperfect
-
has praisedperfect
-
am praisingprogressive
-
are praisingprogressive
-
is praisingprogressive
-
have been praisingperfect progressive
-
has been praisingperfect progressive
Past
-
praisedsimple
-
had praisedperfect
-
was praisingprogressive
-
were praisingprogressive
-
had been praisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of praise
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb preisen, from Old French preisier “to value, prize,” from Late Latin pretiāre, derivative of Latin pretium “worth, reward” ( see price); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
Praise means "admiration or approval," and when you're on the receiving end of it, you feel great. Whether it's used as a verb or a noun, praise means "approval." If you enthusiastically praise your dog, he's likely to wag his tail and expect a treat. What you've given him (in addition to the treat) is praise, the noun. In a religious context, the verb praise is interchangeable with worship, as when a minister says, "Praise God."
Vocabulary lists containing praise
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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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:
Lando Norris, the outgoing world champion, was also effusive in his praise.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
But the praise and pity produced resentment among many Americans who did not want an admissions system that elevated foreigners to a higher pedestal.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Lula, 81, and Trump, 80, have no trouble communicating by phone and have met several times -- showering each other with public praise before reverting to their fundamental disagreements.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
They are under no obligation to do so, and they deserve full praise if they do.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
The praise squares Helmuth's shoulders and he beams at the storm trooper.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Toby Lichtig praises Ben Eastham’s “ambitious debut” for its “dazzling disquisitions” on art, money and the creative impulse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
And he praises the show for treating black characters as "normal people".
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
And Donte King, whose family endures racism both subtle and blatant, praises the filmmakers’ attempts to humanize people with contrasting viewpoints, saying he was pleased with getting to tell his story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Today, Martin praises the "really nice community" with "more young families moving in", although soaring rents have pushed out some lower-income residents.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
They sang praises to Mwari, whose voice is thunder, and to mhondoro, the spirit of the land— “Wake up,” whispered Rita, kicking him under the table.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Also present were Luis Rosa and Luisa Collin, a couple who praised De La Cruz for her constituent services.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Our critic praised the movie, calling it “Simmering and subtly cumulative . . . full of overwhelming anguish, buried beneath a masculine stoicism forever threatening to come undone.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
The congresswoman, who narrowly lost Michigan’s August Democratic primary to El-Sayed, praised Rogers’ support for investment in Black-owned businesses.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
Just last month the WWF praised conservation efforts which had achieved the recovery of key species including elephants, green sea turtles and tigers.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Reviewers praised the “cool, surgical, irrefutable analyses of two of the world’s leading cryptologists.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
A former police chief himself, he said it was clear from Raman’s debate remarks that she was praising Special Order 40 and not Gates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
And while his supporters described him ahead of the 2022 election as the "saviour of the Amazon", praising his commitment to protecting the rainforest, some environmentalists have been critical of some of his recent actions.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Russia and Ukraine both said they would cooperate on the truce, with the Kremlin praising Melania Trump's role.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
“Sensible cat books,” Spark once said, “are devoted to praising the cat for its catness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Big Brother’s Order for the Day, it seemed, had been chiefly devoted to praising the work of an organization known as FFCC, which supplied cigarettes and other comforts to the sailors in the Floating Fortresses.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
