revered
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of revered
Explanation
If someone is revered, it means he or she is held in deep respect and devotion. Religious leaders, saints, and martyrs are often considered as revered. Celebrities? Not so much. There's a touch of the other worldly about revered. The origins of revered reveal something about its slightly scary, awesome nature. It comes from the Latin word revereri, meaning "to fear," and the addition of the "re" at the beginning is an expression of intensive force, so the word literally means "to greatly fear." People whom are revered are not necessarily those we feel most comfortable around; we are too busy holding them in awe.
Vocabulary lists containing revered
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
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The Odyssey
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We Are the Ants
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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.
It’s a Taoist temple where people come to worship Guan Di, a deified Chinese general revered as the god of commerce and war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
A total of 80 Americans are missing in Nepal and Tibet, many of them pilgrims who were visiting sacred lakes revered by Hindus and Buddhists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Han, revered by church members as the "True Mother", took the helm of the church after Moon's death in 2012.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
When Goretzka arrived at Bayern from Schalke in 2018, he was revered as a modern type of midfielder, who could essentially play every position in the middle of the field.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The two of them ate and talked more as if they were two girls rather than a revered elder and a child.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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.
