inspired
Americanadjective
-
aroused, animated, or imbued with the spirit to do something, by or as if by supernatural or divine influence.
an inspired poet.
-
resulting from such inspiration.
an inspired poem;
an inspired plan.
-
inhaled.
inspired air.
adjective
-
aroused or guided by or as if aroused or guided by divine inspiration
an inspired performance
she was like one inspired
-
extremely accurate or apt but based on intuition rather than knowledge or logical deduction
an inspired guess
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inspired
Explanation
Inspired is an adjective that describes something of excellent quality. If your singing in a choral concert is particularly inspired, people can hear your voice hitting all the right notes beautifully. If something is so extraordinary that it's worthy of being described as inspired, you might think that the gods had something to do with its creation. In fact, inspired originally meant "directly inspired by God or gods." It comes from the Latin in-"in" and spirare "to breathe." Maybe such supernatural power did breathe life into something truly excellent. Or maybe the humans just worked very hard and had a great idea.
Vocabulary lists containing inspired
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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.
He said Wales had inspired him to get into ceramics, with his mum having had a passion for pottery too.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Fields was inspired by listening to “Voodoo” at Shibuya and wishing that he could talk about it with the other attendees.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026
She said she was inspired by protests in Spain, where students and workers have joined forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
The "Modern Warfare" games depict military conflicts in the modern era, inspired by international tensions, while the "Black Ops" games take place in an alternate reality where the Cold War never ended.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
“Talk about how the paper chain project inspired you to explore your Jewish heritage.”
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
