approve
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to speak or think favorably of; pronounce or consider agreeable or good; judge favorably.
to approve the policies of the administration.
- Synonyms:
- esteem, appreciate
-
to consent or agree to.
Father approved our plan to visit Chicago.
-
to confirm or sanction formally; ratify.
The Senate promptly approved the bill.
-
Obsolete.
-
to demonstrate; show.
-
to make good; attest.
-
to prove by trial.
-
to convict.
-
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to consider fair, good, or right; commend (a person or thing)
-
(tr) to authorize or sanction
-
obsolete (tr) to demonstrate or prove by trial
verb
Related Words
Approve, commend, praise mean to have, and usually to express, a favorable opinion. To approve is to have a very good opinion, expressed or not, of someone or something: He approved the new plan. To commend is to speak or write approvingly, often formally and publicly, to congratulate or honor for something done: to commend a worker for a job well done. To praise is to speak or write, often in glowing and emotional terms, about one or more persons, actions, plans, etc.: to praise someone's courage.
Other Word Forms
- approvedly adverb
- approvedness noun
- approvingly adverb
- nonapproved adjective
- preapprov verb
- reapprove verb
- self-approved adjective
- self-approving adjective
- unapproved adjective
- unapproving adjective
- unapprovingly adverb
- well-approved adjective
Etymology
Origin of approve
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English a(p)proven, from Anglo-French, Old French aprover, from Latin approbāre, equivalent to ap- ap- 1 + probāre “to prove ”
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.
Building code officials might be extra cautious or extra slow in approving a project for the same reason.
From Los Angeles Times
In 1972, voters approved Proposition 20, which essentially laid down a hallmark declaration:
From Los Angeles Times
Eurostar says it will bring in the kiosks "once the operational software and the activation timetable are confirmed and approved by the French Ministry of Interior".
From BBC
But while DHS faces a shutdown, ICE itself will remain operational, under funds approved in last year's government spending bill.
From Barron's
District Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California, who is overseeing the case, approved the request.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
