appreciation

American  

[uh-pree-shee-ey-shuhn] / əˌpri ʃiˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

• appreciations
  plural

1. gratitude; thankful recognition.

   They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.

2. the act of estimating the qualities of things and giving them their proper value.

3. clear perception or recognition, especially of aesthetic quality.

   a course in art appreciation.

4. an increase or rise in the value of property, goods, etc.

5. critical notice; evaluation; opinion, as of a situation, person, etc.

6. a critique or written evaluation, especially when favorable.

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appreciation British  

/ əˌpriːʃɪˈeɪʃən, -sɪ- /

noun

1. thanks or gratitude

2. assessment of the true worth or value of persons or things

3. perceptive recognition of qualities, as in art

4. an increase in value, as of goods or property

5. a written review of a book, etc, esp when favourable

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonappreciation
  noun
• overappreciation
  noun
• self-appreciation
  noun
• superappreciation
  noun
• unappreciation
  noun
• appreciational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• appreciations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of appreciation

First recorded in 1600–10; earlier appretiation, from French appréciation, from Late Latin appretiātiō “appraisal, valuation”; equivalent to appreciate + -ion

Explanation

When you have an appreciation for something, you can see and truly understand its good qualities. One way to show your appreciation for a particularly wonderful musical performance is to give a standing ovation when it's over. A slightly different kind of appreciation is having good taste or the ability to see aesthetic beauty in something, like members of a wine appreciation group or the teacher of a music appreciation class. There's also the appreciation that means a rise in monetary value — you might refer to the appreciation of the value of a house, for example.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

appreciation appreciations

For every 1% appreciation in the won against the dollar, the South Korean automaker’s operating profit falls 1.5% to 2%, the analyst says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Her interest in Japanese fashion comes down to what she calls “the ethos that it carries” — a sense of uniqueness and an appreciation for imperfection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

One of them signed a form regarding net unrealized appreciation on their way out the door.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Selling a third of the shares brings in about $133,000 of income, and most of that is the appreciation.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Everyone here thinks my interest is just a passing fancy, since they’ve never heard of a teenager with an appreciation of mythology.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

This intimate volume includes slices of memoir, critical essays and appreciations of other authors, among them Ross Macdonald, whose prose she finds “so elegant and rich as to drive any writer to fits of envy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

When the director William Friedkin died last week, the obituaries and appreciations mostly led with his Oscar-nominated 1970s blockbusters “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023

These are not mutually exclusive appreciations of this gown, but I brought to the discussion my research on abolitionist visual culture and read it through that lens.

From Slate ● May 4, 2023

It’s the usual way of appreciations to speak of somebody in the past tense.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 24, 2023

He did not want the mob’s applause; he shrank from the appreciations of the thoughtless street folk as a nun would shrink from the compliments of a band of rough soldiery.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Edward Berdoe

Related Words

• admiration
• affection
• awareness
• commendation
• enjoyment
• esteem
• knowledge
• love
• perception
• realization
• recognition
• respect
• sensitivity
• sympathy
• understanding