adore
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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:
“As a full-time solo RV woman I absolutely adore this!” one person wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Ahmed: The shows that I really adore and the ones that really inspired me on this journey are ones that are unapologetically specific.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
I’m going to stick with it, and if it means an angry phone call from Yannick Noah, that’s fine, I adore Yannick Noah, who doesn’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
So I made it in the mix, and I had a really fun time having one last little play at a show that I love and adore.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
I adore mythology, especially the Greek and Roman gods.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
For Fatima, a practicing Muslim who adores her parents, the stakes feel even higher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
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
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
Mr. Jacobs also adores the look of the taxi dancers—“broken dolls,” he calls them—in Bob Fosse’s movie “Sweet Charity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Her one weakness is her horse Brio, whom she adores riding.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
The futile paradox of these so-called live-action adaptations is they require a tsunami of pixels to surround actual human performers with everything audiences adored the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
I guess Bill Plaschke decided to put on his “everyday working person” hat to attack Austin Reaves, a player that he acknowledges is adored by the fan base.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
Slate Auto’s all-electric truck aims to prove that affordable cars can be both profitable and adored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
"One of the things I suggested was a blue satin suit and she adored it," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
And he would have, because he adored my father, and my father adored him.”
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
He sucked up the energy provided by a swell of support from thousands of adoring fans and again moved within one shot of the lead.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 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
It is their first trip to Australia since 2018, when they spent two weeks touring the country as well as New Zealand and Pacific islands in a visit that drew adoring throngs of crowds.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
In flashbacks — Ambrine Trigo-Ouaked portrays the younger Alpha — we see glimpses of affection for his adoring niece, but Rahim illustrates that Amin’s debilitating craving will always be his principal love.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Later on, Úrsula had put candles on it and had prostrated herself before it, not suspecting that instead of a saint she was adoring almost four hundred pounds of gold.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
