admire
Americanverb (used with object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
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admired,
past participle, past
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admiring
present participle
verb (used without object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
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admired,
past participle, past
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admiring
present participle
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to feel or express admiration.
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Dialect. to take pleasure; like or desire.
I would admire to go.
idioms
verb
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to regard with esteem, respect, approval, or pleased surprise
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archaic to wonder at
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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admirernoun
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quasi-admireverb
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preadmireverb (used with object)
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admiringadjective
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unadmiredadjective
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admiringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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admiresimple
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admiressimple
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have admiredperfect
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has admiredperfect
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am admiringprogressive
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are admiringprogressive
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is admiringprogressive
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have been admiringperfect progressive
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has been admiringperfect progressive
Past
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admiredsimple
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had admiredperfect
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was admiringprogressive
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were admiringprogressive
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had been admiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of admire
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin admīrārī, equivalent to ad- ad- + mīrārī (in Medieval Latin mīrāre ) “to wonder at, admire”
Explanation
If you hold someone in high esteem or look up to someone, you admire that person. If you ask four-year-olds who they most admire, they are likely to list their mom, dad, and grandparents — or superheroes and comic book characters. The verb admire also means to look at with wonder and pleasure. She stood on the balcony of her hotel for a long time, simply to admire the view of the ocean and the surf as it crashed against the rocks below. I admire the way she volunteers to help at the school and with other charities because she is willing to give her time to good causes.
Vocabulary lists containing admire
"Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." and "I Have a Dream"
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"A Natural Balance" and "In My Dreams"
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Lyrics from "American Pie" by Don McLean
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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:
“I admire that they learned quickly and they didn’t need a gatekeeper,” Kelly says of the prodigies that have taken this year’s box office by storm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
“And I actually admire those types of people who can just keep pushing forward and shut the noise out and just keep going and striving towards a purpose while operating from a place of purpose.”
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
We should be hesitant to place halos around the heads of people we admire, just as we shouldn’t totally condemn those with whom we disagree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Should I admire them greatly, or is there some underlying dynamic that reveals this all to be kind of pathetic?
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
I tilt Virginia down so they can admire her, being careful to support her head.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Kelly said she admires Swift and Kelce for donating to charity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Macron invited him to a formal dinner to be held at the one place Trump admires most in the world, other than Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower: the Palace of Versailles.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
Plus, Hodin, 37, a freelance writer who chronicled her “groomzilla” experience for Vogue, admires his gold-plated tastes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
The low-budget film stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette as a man who makes a sinister bargain to win the affections of the woman he admires -- and must bear the consequences.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
The Dauntless in me admires his form—perfect—and his speed- incredible.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
“You see people you care about and have always admired starting to get damaged and broken,” Dychtwald said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Starring Sam Underwood, the play concerns Nikolai Ivanov, a man in his mid-30s who was once admired and full of promise, but is now depressed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
When De Zerbi first arrived in the Premier League at Brighton in September 2022, he introduced new tactical concepts that were admired by some of the league's best.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Daniel Shelton attended an early August campaign rally in Houston and said he admired Paxton’s common sense.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
“These capes must be worth at least ten million gold coins. Maybe more,” said Valley as she admired the Laroux’ matching capes.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
He said it is a "really great honor to have my name listed after all those great mathematicians I've always been admiring".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
“It’s not going to get much better than that,” Antinone said, admiring the water’s crystal appearance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
My colleague Alex Kirshner wrote about @FreddyLA7, a German X user visiting the U.S. for the tournament whose admiring, travelogue-style posts about Taco Bell, state parks, and other Americana are going viral.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
"I wanted to see what the mystery was about," said Nick Frey, a 28-year-old US tourist admiring the fortress.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Leading TimeStar, Otto circled the Lev-Port as if admiring the exterior, in case Sheed could see them from inside.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
