espouse
Americanverb
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to adopt or give support to (a cause, ideal, etc)
to espouse socialism
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archaic (esp of a man) to take as spouse; marry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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espousesimple
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espousessimple
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have espousedperfect
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has espousedperfect
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am espousingprogressive
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are espousingprogressive
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is espousingprogressive
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have been espousingperfect progressive
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has been espousingperfect progressive
Past
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espousedsimple
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had espousedperfect
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was espousingprogressive
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were espousingprogressive
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had been espousingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of espouse
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French espouser , from Latin spōnsāre “to betroth, espouse”
Explanation
Use the verb espouse to describe the actions of someone who lives according to specific beliefs, such as your friends who espouse environmentalism and as a result walk whenever possible instead of taking the car. You can see the word spouse in espouse, so you may be wondering what husbands and wives have to do with it. Originally espouse did mean "to marry," but its meaning has evolved to include other long-term commitments as well, such as support for a principle or a cause. Similar to marriage, if you espouse a belief system, the idea is that you've chosen to wed yourself to it.
Vocabulary lists containing espouse
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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:
“Maybe the government should be slower to espouse programs that it thinks will be the new wave,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
Although government lawyers who espouse such theories should not be, on those grounds, subject to professional discipline, they can—and, I think, should—generally be shunned by the profession.
From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2025
"This is wholly unacceptable and does not align with the values and behaviours that we espouse or endorse as a service," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2025
Campaigning in the Wisconsin primary in Milwaukee one morning, I heard Carter espouse one position on school busing that seemed to please a predominately Black church congregation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024
This may have been one of the reasons that influenced the Indians throughout the Revolution to espouse the British cause.
From How Justice Grew: Virginia Counties, An Abstract of Their Formation by Hiden, Martha Woodroof
It espouses a very conservative view of the family, which it says should consist of "a father, a mother and as many children as possible."
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
The Japan Innovation Party espouses free-market ideas including lower taxes and deregulation, which if implemented could further jolt the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
The overall mission Peretti espouses in his memo also runs up against some striking self-contradictions.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2025
The drink may be clickbait, but it also speaks to a growing lifestyle trend that espouses going back to basics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024
Cromwell espouses the cause of the Vaudois, 50.
From The Vaudois of Piedmont A Visit to their Valleys by Worsfold, J. N. (John Napper)
He became frustrated by the policy of peaceful resistance to Belgrade's repression of ethnic Albanians espoused by the late Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
When Bin Salman first came to prominence as Saudi defense minister in 2015, he espoused a pugilistic foreign policy that saw him launch the unsuccessful offensive on the Houthis and kidnap Lebanon’s prime minister.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026
Despite their past wariness of crypto, banks have long espoused the potential of the blockchain technology that underpins digital currencies to streamline their businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
In the past, Musk has espoused paying penalties rather than waiting for approvals as a way of doing business.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2025
But when it was put into practice, particularly when it was placed in the hands of corrupt leaders, it became a much different system from that which was originally espoused.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
And repetition – espousing the same ideas again and again – was an effective tactic.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
Perhaps the most committed advocate is Dutchman Wim Hof, who has made a career of espousing its purported health benefits.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
In her Friday letter, MIT’s Kornbluth said the school already does much of what the compact requests, including rewarding merit by mandating college entrance exams and espousing free expression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
The episode, titled Got a Nut, premiered on 6 August and finds the character Clyde Donovan espousing offensive views on a podcast.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
Forty years later he’d still be espousing ideas put forth by Armstrong and the Plain Truth.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
