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.
“The Complete Notebooks” traces Camus’s development from a budding writer in colonial Algeria to a journalist of the French Resistance to a revered public intellectual.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Wales -- the cradle of Britain's revered National Health Service and a former industrial powerhouse -- has been a Labour Party stronghold for well over a century.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
No New England Chinese food restaurant is more iconic or revered than Tiki-themed Kowloon.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
To adapt a hallowed and revered work of this scope, across decades and generations, brimming with magical realism, was, of course, daunting for the showrunners.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
"Then why do men lower their voices when they speak of the warlocks of Qarth? All across the east, their power and wisdom are revered."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
