adorable
Americanadjective
-
very attractive; charming; lovable
-
rare deserving or eliciting adoration
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of adorable
From the Latin word adōrābilis, dating back to 1605–15. See adore, -able
Explanation
Tie a pink ribbon around your puppy's neck and push him around in a stroller, and you'll either get worried stares or compliments on how adorable he looks. Adorable means lovable, sweet, and childlike. The adjective adorable is mostly used to mean "cute," when someone is describing something sweet or charming, like a baby or a pretty dress. The origins of the word adorable are actually religious; it was first used only to mean "worthy of adoration." The Latin word adorare, "to ask in prayer," is the root of adore, which in the 14th century meant "to worship." It wasn't until the 1880s that adorable began to mean "delightful" rather than "worthy of worshiping."
Vocabulary lists containing adorable
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -able, -ible
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Positive Words to Describe People, List 2
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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.
They are adorable despite their quirky physique—square in the front, round in the back—or maybe because of it.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
Nate Torrence, who is also the voice of Clawhauser in the “Zootopia” movies, says nothing sounds more adorable than “the collab of a puppy and unicorn.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
"The little panda is cute, adorable and totally heart-melting," a fan wrote on the zoo's social media page.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
And as for amateurs gainsaying the work of the Centro Stile design department, I think that’s adorable.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
Appropriate: “The bitch gave birth to a litter of adorable puppies.”
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
