adore
Americanverb (used with object)
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adores,
present (3rd person singular)
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adored,
past participle, past
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adoring
present participle
verb (used without object)
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adores,
present (3rd person singular)
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adored,
past participle, past
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adoring
present participle
verb
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(tr) to love intensely or deeply
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to worship (a god) with religious rites
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informal (tr) to like very much
I adore chocolate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adorernoun
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adoringadjective
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unadoredadjective
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unadoringadjective
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adoringlyadverb
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unadoringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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adoresimple
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adoressimple
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have adoredperfect
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has adoredperfect
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am adoringprogressive
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are adoringprogressive
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is adoringprogressive
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have been adoringperfect progressive
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has been adoringperfect progressive
Past
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adoredsimple
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had adoredperfect
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was adoringprogressive
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were adoringprogressive
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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
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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 absolutely adore my children," Alex says, particularly now they are old enough to play football with.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Those who adore Kurosawa’s unsettling earlier films may be thrown off by his new movie’s relatively muted approach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
All five banks reported billions of dollars in stock repurchases last quarter, which shareholders adore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
“As a full-time solo RV woman I absolutely adore this!” one person wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
This was precisely why she loved plays, or hers at least; everyone would adore her.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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
The kid’s joy is as stratospheric as the plane; he adores everything but the airline’s chicken cordon bleu.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 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
Its founder Vaughan Smith, who was also in the Army, said: "He was one of the characters – those people who stand out because everybody adores them and they make you feel better."
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026
Meng is eighteen and adores us younger children.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
She has an up-and-down relationship with her one close friend, and she hesitates to bother her adored brother, Laurie, if it means bothering Laurie’s wife.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
I adored her from Day One; how could you not?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Despite this, she’s universally adored across the political spectrum.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
All action, high-octane performances, adored by his fans yet prickly under pressure.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Moss adored Njemile’s parents, but Shamika was somewhat younger than his mother, and he found he could relate to her more.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
"I love color. I love painting. I love shapes. I love composition. I love the people all around me. I'm adoring it all. My legacy is in the hands of other people."
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Little is known about Graham—or, apparently, by Graham—and it’s not as if the state’s right wing was ever adoring of her late brother.
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
Like Grande to her adoring fans, Maddie is Deena’s idol, and Deena measures Maddie’s success by her work benchmarks and public visibility.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
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
“Why do you need an adoring public when you’ve got me?”
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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.
