praise
Americannoun
-
the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation.
- Synonyms:
- compliment, approbation, applause, plaudit, acclamation
- Antonyms:
- condemnation
-
the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship.
a hymn of praise to God.
-
the state of being approved or admired.
The king lived in praise for many years.
-
Archaic. a ground for praise, or a merit.
verb (used with object)
-
praises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
praised,
past participle, past
-
praising
present participle
idioms
noun
-
the act of expressing commendation, admiration, etc
-
the extolling of a deity or the rendering of homage and gratitude to a deity
-
the condition of being commended, admired, etc
-
archaic the reason for praise
-
to commend someone highly
verb
-
to express commendation, admiration, etc, for
-
to proclaim or describe the glorious attributes of (a deity) with homage and thanksgiving
Synonym Usage
See approve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
praisernoun
-
self-praisenoun
-
superpraisenoun
-
outpraiseverb (used with object)
-
repraiseverb (used with object)
-
half-praisedadjective
-
half-praisingadjective
-
praisefuladjective
-
praiselessadjective
-
self-praisingadjective
-
unpraisedadjective
-
unpraisefuladjective
-
unpraisingadjective
-
praisefullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
praisesimple
-
praisessimple
-
have praisedperfect
-
has praisedperfect
-
am praisingprogressive
-
are praisingprogressive
-
is praisingprogressive
-
have been praisingperfect progressive
-
has been praisingperfect progressive
Past
-
praisedsimple
-
had praisedperfect
-
was praisingprogressive
-
were praisingprogressive
-
had been praisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of praise
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb preisen, from Old French preisier “to value, prize,” from Late Latin pretiāre, derivative of Latin pretium “worth, reward” ( see price); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
Praise means "admiration or approval," and when you're on the receiving end of it, you feel great. Whether it's used as a verb or a noun, praise means "approval." If you enthusiastically praise your dog, he's likely to wag his tail and expect a treat. What you've given him (in addition to the treat) is praise, the noun. In a religious context, the verb praise is interchangeable with worship, as when a minister says, "Praise God."
Vocabulary lists containing praise
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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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:
Holmes herself shied from the public eye, making the surprise release of the documentary "You Can See Everything" all the more astonishing when it debuted to high praise at the Telluride Film Festival in September.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor-designed building opened to the public in April and was greeted with equal parts praise and controversy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Now other aspects of the company’s maturity are winning praise on Wall Street.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Indian social media has been awash with praise for Capt Machchhar since his identity emerged, with commenters calling him a hero.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Regina wrote to Joan that she was worried Lombardy might be damning Bobby with faint praise.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Today, Martin praises the "really nice community" with "more young families moving in", although soaring rents have pushed out some lower-income residents.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Allegedly, somewhere out there De Palma’s original three-hour cut exists, one that so impressed Ellroy that he devoted an entire essay to singing its praises called “The Hillikers.”
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
While Tarlov was grateful for his advice, her book praises current Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott for creating a workplace culture that is much more hospitable to women.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
The White House domestic-policy advisor, Margaret Spellings—whom Karl Rove praises in the book as “the master of the short bawdy joke”—emerges as an acid-tongued score-settler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Up in the press box, they stayed late to bang out praises and apologies.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, praised the work but acknowledged supply-chain struggles in early September comments published by news outlets linked to the Revolutionary Guard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Shauna Parisi, 37, praised the city’s recovery from Friday’s flooding, noting that city crews had worked as late as 10 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
In that role, Mr. Gude notes, he praised his “noble” employer and warned at one point that a strike “at the present time” would amount to “anarchy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Trump praised his outgoing spokeswoman, saying she had done a "fantastic job" in the role.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The New York Tribune also praised her, writing, “All the past efforts of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton sink to insignificance beside the ingenious lobbying of the new leader and her daring declaration.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
The European Commission told AFP that "the fight against corruption is a key element for a country to be able to join the EU" after praising Albania's "tangible progress" in a report last year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Thirlwall described herself as a "huge fan" of the franchise, praising Attenborough as "a true hero".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Fellow stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon issued a statement at the time, praising the women for coming forward and made it clear that they supported them.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Then, over the weekend, X was filled with posts by people praising their new agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The only music I knew was from church: soaring, uplifting songs praising Jesus.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
