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:
Lando Norris, the outgoing world champion, was also effusive in his praise.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
But the praise and pity produced resentment among many Americans who did not want an admissions system that elevated foreigners to a higher pedestal.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
And if the creator only offers praise, and doesn’t mention any costs or drawbacks, then that could also signal this is more an advertisement than an honest review.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Lula, 81, and Trump, 80, have no trouble communicating by phone and have met several times -- showering each other with public praise before reverting to their fundamental disagreements.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
I praise this method, because it has been employed since ancient times.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
And he praises the show for treating black characters as "normal people".
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
The APA praises her work for advancing “liberation-oriented approaches” to psychology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
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
He shadowboxes with ostriches and brings in celebrities like Rick Ross and Naomi Campbell for IBA events; he praises Stalin and rides private jets.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Then when they had laid their fallen comrades in a mound and had sung their praises, the Riders made a great fire and scattered the ashes of their enemies.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Also present were Luis Rosa and Luisa Collin, a couple who praised De La Cruz for her constituent services.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
The congresswoman, who narrowly lost Michigan’s August Democratic primary to El-Sayed, praised Rogers’ support for investment in Black-owned businesses.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
While the comic praised the gathering in his Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Efa Akutekha, a 35-year-old digital marketing producer with about 20,000 followers on TikTok, praised Raman’s work strengthening the city’s tenant protections and pushing for an expansion of L.A.’s unarmed crisis response teams.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
She had assumed she was going to be praised for her work in Maine the previous winter, when she had collected more than one hundred thousand women’s signatures in support of a prohibition law.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
A former police chief himself, he said it was clear from Raman’s debate remarks that she was praising Special Order 40 and not Gates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
He appeared to dismiss the legal action, praising the officers deployed to Minneapolis and saying "people do lawsuits all the time".
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
“Sensible cat books,” Spark once said, “are devoted to praising the cat for its catness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
"We are deeply sad about this outcome," the statement said, praising the three researchers' contributions and "their willingness to speak up and challenge ideas."
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Mr. Lucas said, “Let’s keep on praising Him. I’ve seen worse.”
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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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.
