respect
Americannoun
-
respects
plural
-
a particular, detail, or point (usually preceded byin ).
to differ in some respect.
-
relation or reference.
inquiries with respect to a route.
- Synonyms:
- connection, regard
-
esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.
I have great respect for her judgment.
- Synonyms:
- honor, homage, reverence, estimation
-
deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment.
respect for a suspect's right to counsel; to show respect for the flag; respect for the elderly.
-
the condition of being esteemed or honored.
to be held in respect.
-
respects, a formal expression or gesture of greeting, esteem, or friendship.
Give my respects to your parents.
-
favor or partiality.
- Synonyms:
- preference, bias
-
Archaic. a consideration.
verb (used with object)
-
respects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
respected,
past participle, past
-
respecting
present participle
idioms
-
pay one's respects,
-
to visit in order to welcome, greet, etc..
We paid our respects to the new neighbors.
-
to express one's sympathy, especially to survivors following a death.
We paid our respects to the family.
-
-
in respect that, because of; since.
-
in respect of, in reference to; in regard to; concerning.
-
with respect to, referring to; concerning.
with respect to your latest request.
noun
-
an attitude of deference, admiration, or esteem; regard
-
the state of being honoured or esteemed
-
a detail, point, or characteristic; particular
he differs in some respects from his son
-
reference or relation (esp in the phrases in respect of , with respect to )
-
polite or kind regard; consideration
respect for people's feelings
-
(often plural) an expression of esteem or regard (esp in the phrase pay one's respects )
verb
-
to have an attitude of esteem towards; show or have respect for
to respect one's elders
-
to pay proper attention to; not violate
to respect Swiss neutrality
-
to show consideration for; treat courteously or kindly
-
archaic to concern or refer to
Synonym Usage
Respect, esteem, veneration imply recognition of personal qualities by approbation, deference, and more or less affection. Respect is commonly the result of admiration and approbation, together with deference: to feel respect for a great scholar. Esteem is deference combined with admiration and often with affection: to hold a friend in great esteem. Veneration is an almost religious attitude of deep respect, reverence, and love, such as we feel for persons or things of outstanding superiority, endeared by long association: veneration for one's grandparents, for noble traditions.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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respectsimple
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respectssimple
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have respectedperfect
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has respectedperfect
-
am respectingprogressive
-
are respectingprogressive
-
is respectingprogressive
-
have been respectingperfect progressive
-
has been respectingperfect progressive
Past
-
respectedsimple
-
had respectedperfect
-
was respectingprogressive
-
were respectingprogressive
-
had been respectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of respect
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English noun from Old French or directly from Latin respectus “action of looking back, consideration, regard,” equivalent to respec-, variant stem of respicere “to look back” ( re- “back” + specere “to look”) + -tus suffix of verbal action; verb from Latin respectus, past participle of respicere; see re-
Explanation
Respect is a way of treating or thinking about something or someone. If you respect your teacher, you admire her and treat her well. People respect others who are impressive for any reason, such as being in authority — like a teacher or cop — or being older — like a grandparent. You show respect by being polite and kind. For a lot of people, taking your hat off is a show of respect. When people are insulted or treated badly, they feel they haven't been treated with respect. You can respect things as well as people. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance shows respect to your country.
Vocabulary lists containing respect
Memorial Day Words
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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myPerspectives 6.1
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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:
However, a misconduct panel found Farok to have breached police standards of professional behaviour relating to use of force and authority, respect and courtesy.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
“Out of respect, I don’t want anyone who keeps kosher to eat our food.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
"I don't know Spanish really well. I know it enough to speak to my mom consistently. So in that respect, I am a 'no sabo'."
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
“And please respect my family’s privacy as they navigate this with me, too,” she added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
As for me, I paid the boy-Human the ultimate sign of respect: the Twining Curl.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
The Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that it works closely with the district attorney’s office “throughout the investigative and judicial processes and respects its role in reviewing cases for filing consideration.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
The $63 billion deal is historic in several respects beyond size.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Pupils at Ynysowen Community Primary School, which was built to carry on the legacy of Pantglas, also gathered to pay their respects.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Their cases differ in important respects, but together they raise questions about the relationship between presidential hostility and the exercise of state power.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Ma said it for him: “That man is not better than you—everybody in this village respects Neel’s father.”
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
The rare halt in fighting, which was respected by both sides, allowed roads to be demined and residents to depart for either Ukraine or Russia.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
Social media users seemed split after his bombshell confession to being a traitor, with some totally exasperated and others saying they respected him for going out on his own terms.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Israel went to work setting up dummy companies and even hiring a respected sales agent to pitch its own design to Hezbollah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Latinos long respected Huerta’s career but didn’t truly embrace her until her señora era, when she became our collective matriarch, in addition to the mother of 14 children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
He, who had always eaten kosher, he, the oldest son of an oldest son of a respected family, in fact, he Meyer Mossel Eusebius Smit, was seriously being asked to eat pork.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
“To induce users to provide their personal information to Facebook, Facebook made many false promises respecting the security and control of that data over the course of more than a decade.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Vaccarello began the difficult task of replacing France's Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent in 2016, taking several seasons to identify a fresh look for the brand while also respecting its illustrious heritage.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Pledging love and respecting someone or a relationship can make people feel so uncomfortable that leaning into these tropes of life can feel humorous, and that’s where the laughs from a Hallmark film come from.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
But I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a difference between respecting someone’s independence and refusing to let the people who love you help.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
But it’s never going to change until women start respecting themselves more.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
