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
- inspiredly adverb
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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This Week in Pop Culture: July 6–July 12, 2019
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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.
Jones recently portrayed Mrs Bennet in another comedy series, The Other Bennet Sister, which was inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
To overcome this limitation, Rak developed a new approach inspired by his background in chemistry.
From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026
"I'm thrilled. I'm absolutely thrilled to be speaking with you, Jeremy and the crew. We've all been watching and inspired by what you're doing."
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
The “Just Give Me a Reason” singer, known for performing aerial stunts during her concerts, has never performed on Broadway but said theater has inspired her throughout her music career.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
Evidently it was the natural formation of the terrain that inspired this extraordinary work of landscape architecture, as mysterious and moving in its way as Stonehenge.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
