admire
Americanverb (used with object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
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admired,
past participle, past
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admiring
present participle
verb (used without object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
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admired,
past participle, past
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admiring
present participle
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to feel or express admiration.
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Dialect. to take pleasure; like or desire.
I would admire to go.
idioms
verb
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to regard with esteem, respect, approval, or pleased surprise
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archaic to wonder at
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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admirernoun
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quasi-admireverb
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preadmireverb (used with object)
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admiringadjective
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unadmiredadjective
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admiringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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admiresimple
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admiressimple
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have admiredperfect
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has admiredperfect
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am admiringprogressive
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are admiringprogressive
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is admiringprogressive
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have been admiringperfect progressive
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has been admiringperfect progressive
Past
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admiredsimple
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had admiredperfect
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was admiringprogressive
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were admiringprogressive
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had been admiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of admire
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin admīrārī, equivalent to ad- ad- + mīrārī (in Medieval Latin mīrāre ) “to wonder at, admire”
Explanation
If you hold someone in high esteem or look up to someone, you admire that person. If you ask four-year-olds who they most admire, they are likely to list their mom, dad, and grandparents — or superheroes and comic book characters. The verb admire also means to look at with wonder and pleasure. She stood on the balcony of her hotel for a long time, simply to admire the view of the ocean and the surf as it crashed against the rocks below. I admire the way she volunteers to help at the school and with other charities because she is willing to give her time to good causes.
Vocabulary lists containing admire
"Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." and "I Have a Dream"
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"A Natural Balance" and "In My Dreams"
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Lyrics from "American Pie" by Don McLean
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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:
“I admire that they learned quickly and they didn’t need a gatekeeper,” Kelly says of the prodigies that have taken this year’s box office by storm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
We should be hesitant to place halos around the heads of people we admire, just as we shouldn’t totally condemn those with whom we disagree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The series never asked us to admire chefs simply because they were famous.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Should I admire them greatly, or is there some underlying dynamic that reveals this all to be kind of pathetic?
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
“And now that it is spring, imagine that there are pretty tulips blooming as well, so that all your friends might come for a garden party and admire them.”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
He admires him, but there is a quiet stubbornness in how he frames his own ambition.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Dressed in form-fitting suits with eye-catching colors, de la Espriella cuts the figure of one of the politicians he most openly admires: Nayib Bukele.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The low-budget film stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette as a man who makes a sinister bargain to win the affections of the woman he admires -- and must bear the consequences.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
Kwon admires her ability to construct situations that “linger and linger,” prompting her to often ask: What would I do?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
He knows Vincent admires and emulates those two.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
“I can’t claim to know what he thinks or what he’s trying to accomplish, but it’s really hard to see this person that I admired support that kind of thing,” Eves said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
She died in 1984, aged 51, without knowing that the film she'd backed would go on to be so loved and admired.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Starring Sam Underwood, the play concerns Nikolai Ivanov, a man in his mid-30s who was once admired and full of promise, but is now depressed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Daniel Shelton attended an early August campaign rally in Houston and said he admired Paxton’s common sense.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
He admired Kennedy’s determination to end the war, and helped the candidate craft speeches in preparation for the pivotal California Democratic primary.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
One can’t help admiring people who value their way of life more than money, but let me give you the view from my farm in Atchison County: Developers, make me an offer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
And social media brimmed with foreign fans admiring the US way of life.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
My colleague Alex Kirshner wrote about @FreddyLA7, a German X user visiting the U.S. for the tournament whose admiring, travelogue-style posts about Taco Bell, state parks, and other Americana are going viral.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Members of the current US team know exactly who Armstrong is, and one admiring player even has similar facial hair.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
Commanding Tennessee militiamen, he refused to leave any of his sick or wounded men behind after a long march, earning the admiring nickname Old Hickory.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
