promote
Americanverb (used with object)
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promotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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promoted,
past participle, past
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promoting
present participle
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to help or encourage to exist or flourish; further.
to promote world peace.
- Antonyms:
- obstruct, discourage
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to advance in rank, dignity, position, etc. (opposed to demote).
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Education. to put ahead to the next higher stage or grade of a course or series of classes.
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to aid in organizing (business undertakings).
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to encourage the sales, acceptance, etc., of (a product), especially through advertising or other publicity.
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Informal. to obtain (something) by cunning or trickery; wangle.
verb
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to further or encourage the progress or existence of
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to raise to a higher rank, status, degree, etc
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to advance (a pupil or student) to a higher course, class, etc
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to urge the adoption of; work for
to promote reform
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to encourage the sale of (a product) by advertising or securing financial support
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chess to exchange (a pawn) for any piece other than a king when the pawn reaches the 8th rank
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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promotabilitynoun
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promotionnoun
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prepromoteverb (used with object)
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promotableadjective
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promotionaladjective
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self-promotingadjective
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unpromotableadjective
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unpromotedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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promotesimple
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promotessimple
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have promotedperfect
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has promotedperfect
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am promotingprogressive
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are promotingprogressive
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is promotingprogressive
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have been promotingperfect progressive
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has been promotingperfect progressive
Past
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promotedsimple
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had promotedperfect
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was promotingprogressive
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were promotingprogressive
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had been promotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of promote
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English promoten, from Latin prōmōtus, past participle of prōmovēre “to move forward, advance”; see pro- 1, motive
Explanation
If you work for a marketing firm, your job is to promote new products — to publicize them and to try to get the public to buy them. The verb promote can also mean to advance to a higher position. Because of your hard work, your boss might decide to promote you. In school, passing students are promoted each year when they enter a higher grade. In chess, the verb promote is used when a pawn is exchanged for a higher ranking piece. Make sure you promote your pawn to a queen, giving you two queens on the board and a strong advantage in the game.
Vocabulary lists containing promote
Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (1787)
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Words for Father's Day: What Fathers Do
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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:
Around Paris, Toulouse and Marseilles, local policies that deter suburban sprawl and promote new housing in city centers have slowed expansion of outer suburbs, a recent study found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
The title of the paper is "Nanomolar vanillin, an e-cigarette flavorant, appears to disrupt pluripotency and promote endodermal differentiation in human embryonic stem cells via TRPV4 activation."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Is the brokerage adviser conflicted and are they just going to try to promote their own products?
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
Good Good Golf posted a 60-second ad last week to promote a co-branded driver made in collaboration with Callaway.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“No, that’s not true. They rarely promote anyone with my erudition, aristocracy, and style.”
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Alabama grandmother Kristina Hadley also promotes the programme to friends and family - even incorporating Imagination Library into baby gifts.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
More and more, diners are leaning into “proteinmaxxing,” the viral health trend that promotes increased protein intake with the goal of boosting metabolism, decreasing appetite and increasing muscle mass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
"This promotes production of the metabolite N1-acetylspermidine, which contributes to the ability of butyrate-treated IEC-conditioned medium to induce IL-10 production in CD4⁺ T-cells."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
In discussions with peers, he has likened the proposed entity to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a nongovernmental watchdog that promotes cooperation on nuclear energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
What is it that promotes an invention’s acceptance by a society?
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Weddle was promoted to the roster and played extensively, calling defensive signals in the Super Bowl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Melatonin is often promoted as a safe sleep aid, but researchers say there is limited evidence about its cardiovascular safety when taken for extended periods.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
As a marketer at the domain-name company GoDaddy, he promoted the virtues of the early internet to people who didn’t want to use it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
He promoted bikes not just as a sustainable mode of transportation but as an equitable one.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is furious to find Michael Cassio, ‘a great arithmetician’, whose knowledge of warfare is all book-learning, has been promoted ahead of him.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Some elements of the US press also criticised what they perceived as an endless desire for publicity – either in her messaging promoting peace or critiquing the art establishment.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Over the past two decades, Sin City has cut its water consumption by a third, by promoting wastewater recycling and restricting lawn watering and swimming pool sizes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
If A.I. companies got into certain commercial models, they could start promoting sponsored results, such as pseudoscientific cures.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
The question isn’t what she did with the job but what the people promoting her were reading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
CBS didn’t even bother promoting All in the Family before its first season.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
