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adore

[uh-dawr, uh-dohr]
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verb (used with object), a·dored, a·dor·ing.
  1. to regard with the utmost esteem, love, and respect; honor.
  2. to pay divine honor to; worship: to adore God.
  3. to like or admire very much: I simply adore the way your hair is done!
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verb (used without object), a·dored, a·dor·ing.
  1. to worship.
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Origin of adore

1275–1325; < Latin adōrāre to speak to, pray, worship, equivalent to ad- ad- + ōrāre to speak, beg (see oral); replacing Middle English aour(i)e < Old French aourer < Latin
Related formsa·dor·er, nouna·dor·ing·ly, adverbun·a·dored, adjectiveun·a·dor·ing, adjectiveun·a·dor·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. idolize; reverence, revere, venerate.

Antonyms

1. abhor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for adoringly

Historical Examples

  • "Betty, Betty, you're so wonderful," cried Mollie adoringly.

    The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point

    Laura Lee Hope

  • He did love her, love her adoringly, as he loved what was great and lofty in art.

    What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales

    Hans Christian Andersen

  • Then she backed off, and stood gazing down upon the two of them adoringly.

    The Brentons

    Anna Chapin Ray

  • Cissy paused for breath, and her lover looked at her adoringly.

  • From the moment I met you I loved you, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly!

British Dictionary definitions for adoringly

adore

verb
  1. (tr) to love intensely or deeply
  2. to worship (a god) with religious rites
  3. (tr) informal to like very muchI adore chocolate
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Derived Formsadorer, nounadoring, adjectiveadoringly, adverb

Word Origin

C15: via French from Latin adōrāre, from ad- to + ōrāre to pray
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for adoringly

adore

v.

late 14c., aouren, "to worship, pay divine honors to, bow down before," from Old French aorer "to adore, worship, praise" (10c.), from Latin adorare "speak to formally, beseech, ask in prayer," in Late Latin "to worship," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + orare "speak formally, pray" (see orator). Meaning "to honor very highly" is attested from 1590s; weakened sense of "to be very fond of" emerged by 1880s. Related: Adored; adoring.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper