empower
Americanverb (used with object)
-
empowers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
empowered,
past participle, past
-
empowering
present participle
-
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
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have empoweredperfect
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has empoweredperfect
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am empoweringprogressive
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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:
They need organizations that empower physicians to improve lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
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
As my father’s philosophy expanded, he began to empower, enlighten, and embrace an untold populace extending far beyond the limits of governmental control.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Will it be centralized and restricted to a few institutions, or will it be a tool that empowers everyone?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
She added: "The new uniform empowers girls and volunteers to embrace their individuality."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 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
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
After all, the very nature of how Green Lanterns obtain their superhuman abilities involves cosmically empowered rings choosing their wearers.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
But they also found practical accommodations that could make clinical care feel safer and more empowered.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Reading from some notes she said she had made as "she didn't want to get nervous and forget", Grande said the "decision was made from a thoughtful and empowered place."
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
But distribution alone won’t deliver the empowered future Mr. Zuckerberg describes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"Are you trying to think of an empowered X-Woman?"
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
In my fifth decade, I’d found a web-learning technique that was workable and empowering.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
On the whole, this looks to be a positive inflection point in our political leadership, empowering a new generation of leaders advocating needed changes in the government’s relationship with its constituents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
"At first, the idea was empowering, but over time the novelty wore off," she told BBC News.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Wood reshuffled his management team, making Howard Stoeckel, who’d later succeed him as CEO, vice president of marketing, and empowering him to shake up the inside of Wawa’s stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
But Globalization 3.0 differs from the previous eras not only in how it is shrinking and flattening the world and in how it is empowering individuals.
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.
