applaud

[uh-plawd]

verb (used without object)

1. to clap the hands as an expression of approval, appreciation, acclamation, etc..

   They applauded wildly at the end of the opera.

2. to express approval; give praise; acclaim.

verb (used with object)

1. to clap the hands so as to show approval, appreciation, etc., of.

   to applaud an actor; to applaud a speech.

2. to praise or express approval of.

   to applaud a person's ambition.

applaud

/ əˈplɔːd /

verb

1. to indicate approval of (a person, performance, etc) by clapping the hands

2. (usually tr) to offer or express approval or praise of (an action, person, or thing)

   I applaud your decision

Other Word Forms

• applauder noun
• applaudingly adverb
• overapplaud verb
• reapplaud verb
• self-applauding adjective
• unapplauded adjective
• unapplauding adjective
• well-applauded adjective
• applauding adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of applaud¹

1530–40; < Latin applaudere, equivalent to ap- ap- ¹ + plaudere to clap the hands

Word History and Origins

Origin of applaud¹

C15: from Latin applaudere to clap, from plaudere to beat, applaud

Example Sentences

I applaud the SEC’s willingness to revisit its rules and to retrospectively evaluate the costs and benefits of its regulations—a practice to be admired and emulated.

Read more on Barron's

Shah said he "applauded" Turness for doing the "honourable and proper" thing and stepping down as CEO of News, but said he did not think "that meant that the director general had also to resign".

Read more on BBC

These were heartily applauded in the plenary halls – but their legal standing is uncertain.

Read more on BBC

A fiction writer herself, she applauds Austen’s minimalism.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It was one of the ghost’s lines from Hamlet, and the children said it with such spirit that everyone felt moved to applaud.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• approve 
• cheer 
• commend 
• compliment 
• encourage 
• hail 
• laud 
• praise 
• recommend