empower
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means.
I empowered my agent to make the deal for me. The local ordinance empowers the board of health to close unsanitary restaurants.
- Synonyms:
- qualify, license, commission, warrant
-
to enable or permit.
Wealth empowered him to live a comfortable life.
verb
-
to give or delegate power or authority to; authorize
-
to give ability to; enable or permit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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empowersimple
-
empowerssimple
-
have empoweredperfect
-
has empoweredperfect
-
am empoweringprogressive
-
are empoweringprogressive
-
is empoweringprogressive
-
have been empoweringperfect progressive
-
has been empoweringperfect progressive
Past
-
empoweredsimple
-
had empoweredperfect
-
was empoweringprogressive
-
were empoweringprogressive
-
had been empoweringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of empower
Explanation
Empower means "give power or authority to." When you educate children and believe in them, you empower those kids to go after their dreams. Empower might seem like a new word, but it's been around since the 17th century. Today, empower often refers to helping someone realize their abilities and potential, perhaps for the first time. For example, in the 1960s, when women felt like second-class citizens, the women's movement empowered them to stand up and demand their equal rights.
Vocabulary lists containing empower
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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"Hip-Hop as Culture" and "I Am Somebody"
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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.
See Examples For:
She now works to empower other women after setting up the charity Women's Health Hope.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Second, Congress should explicitly empower federal courts to set aside any action a commission takes while inquorate.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
Congress, he said, should empower an independent prosecutor to investigate such conflicts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
The legislation is a call for the U.S. and international community to empower the Tibetan community as it defends its identity and our collective freedom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
My promise to myself was to survive so that I could escape Little Rock and empower myself with enough education to come back home and change everything.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Pusateri added that the company, which is currently reviewing Apple's complaint, is "focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
"We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets. We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere," an OpenAI spokesperson said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
“We remain focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
But read carefully, the MOU commits Iran to charging no tolls “for 60 days only” and empowers it “to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait” in dialogue with Oman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Today, art historians like to say that Les Demoiselles empowers viewers, which is what they say about the Mona Lisa too—they mean that both paintings are open to interpretation.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
In picking South Carolina—which also was first in 2024—the committee empowered that state’s large Black voter population.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But with the completion, I just feel empowered by all of the knowledge I’ve gained in the process of discovering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Years later, she testified against him, but rather than feeling empowered, she felt "oppressed and helpless" as she watched the man walk free under decades-old laws Hong Kong is now seeking to overhaul.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
“The AI agent can be set up with a process to be empowered to make decisions under uncertainty, producing outperformance vs a reasonable benchmark,” the strategists say.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Half the members of the assembly would be elected on a national basis and half on a regional one, and the assembly would be empowered both to write a new constitution and to pass legislation.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
“I’ve traveled from the coast of North Carolina to the coast of Washington down to Arizona! It’s the most empowering thing ever!”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Still, as Richard Hasen explains in Slate, the ruling could’ve been worse—and, by empowering parties over super PACs, might even make our libertine campaign finance system marginally better.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
An actress and documentary filmmaker, Siebel Newsom founded her production company to develop independent films with a focus on combating gender stereotypes and empowering girls and women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
While she is also not one of Asato's constituents, she said it was "incredibly empowering" to see her making a stand and that deepfakes "deeply" concerned her.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
He is getting the intellectual property from these three applications, said Juster, and they are empowering him to start a company with very little money.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
