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)
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
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superpraisenoun
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outpraiseverb (used with object)
-
repraiseverb (used with object)
-
half-praisedadjective
-
half-praisingadjective
-
praisefuladjective
-
praiselessadjective
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self-praisingadjective
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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:
The 15 people chosen to lead them include a Nobel laureate, former central bankers and business executives, and have drawn praise even from skeptics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Trump offered rare praise for the press in the immediate aftermath of the dinner, and praised their decision to go ahead with a re-run as a "sign of strength and fortitude."
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Burwell said he’s flattered by recent online praise from the likes of Ethel Cain, Flying Lotus and Kid Cudi for his score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Defenders may not often come in for the same lavish praise as Golden Boot contenders.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
They are all examples of Western music, and are all more like each other than they are like a Navajo lullaby, a Chinese opera, or a west African praise song.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
I’ve happily sung the praises of jarred garlic and frozen ginger cubes.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Lawrence praises the opportunity to "meet a lot of people" and foster connections.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Roshkoff said that when she or her siblings did something to make their father proud, he’d sing their praises to anyone who would listen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Daily Mail praises what it describes as a "wonder goal" by Jude Bellingham, which the Times says helped secure an "impressive opening group stage victory" for England.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
How they would sing praises of his valiant stand against what must assuredly be the largest great black-backed gull ever encountered!
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
In response, Mr. Kaine praised his party for having “always been known—and mostly this is good, sometimes it’s not—as a big tent.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Schumacker came in and dryly praised “Get Lost” by saying: “Justin knows words that I didn’t think he knew.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Another Midwestern casserole praised by more than one reader was the Hot Dish, Minnesota’s official comfort food with no official recipe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Swinney also praised his work on the transition to a lower-carbon future, and his philanthropic work.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In the newspaper L’Intransigeant, the modernist poet Guillaume Apollinaire praised the portrait: “The Mona Lisa was so beautiful that her perfection has come to be taken for granted.”
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Though the industry’s PAC is relatively new, filing its statement of organization in March, it’s already released ads praising Trump’s marijuana policy.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Four letters were published praising the article and one was published critical of the article.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
He thanked his fans, "the baldies", for their support, praising them as his "number one" focus.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The Chicago-born pontiff has made the defence of migrants one of the pillars of his papacy, like his predecessor Francis, praising those who help the needy and decrying mass deportations in the United States.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
That we should use that energy for praising the Lord.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
