admire
Americanverb (used with object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
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admired,
past participle, past
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admiring
present participle
verb (used without object)
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admires,
present (3rd person singular)
-
admired,
past participle, past
-
admiring
present participle
-
to feel or express admiration.
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Dialect. to take pleasure; like or desire.
I would admire to go.
idioms
verb
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to regard with esteem, respect, approval, or pleased surprise
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archaic to wonder at
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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admirernoun
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quasi-admireverb
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preadmireverb (used with object)
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admiringadjective
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unadmiredadjective
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admiringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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admiresimple
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admiressimple
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have admiredperfect
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has admiredperfect
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am admiringprogressive
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are admiringprogressive
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is admiringprogressive
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have been admiringperfect progressive
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has been admiringperfect progressive
Past
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admiredsimple
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had admiredperfect
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was admiringprogressive
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were admiringprogressive
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had been admiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of admire
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin admīrārī, equivalent to ad- ad- + mīrārī (in Medieval Latin mīrāre ) “to wonder at, admire”
Explanation
If you hold someone in high esteem or look up to someone, you admire that person. If you ask four-year-olds who they most admire, they are likely to list their mom, dad, and grandparents — or superheroes and comic book characters. The verb admire also means to look at with wonder and pleasure. She stood on the balcony of her hotel for a long time, simply to admire the view of the ocean and the surf as it crashed against the rocks below. I admire the way she volunteers to help at the school and with other charities because she is willing to give her time to good causes.
Vocabulary lists containing admire
"Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." and "I Have a Dream"
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"A Natural Balance" and "In My Dreams"
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Lyrics from "American Pie" by Don McLean
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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:
We can admire the blue sky before the clouds cover the sun.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2026
There’s a great view of Endeavour’s mammoth shuttle stack through the windshield for parents to admire while their kids go bonkers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
"He's been one of the persons I admire the most in how he conducted himself in all of this," said Hallgrimsson.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
The prime minister said he would "always admire the characteristic courage and openness with which she spoke about her illness, making us all think about the difficult questions we face at the end of life".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Mimi held out her arms to admire her bracelets.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, Eisenkot said he "admires" Trump "but Israel is a democratic country, only Israelis can choose their leaders".
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Kelly said she admires Swift and Kelce for donating to charity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
“Everyone’s impacted by the cost of living, and it gets us away from some of this divisive politics,” he said, citing New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom Burnham admires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Macron invited him to a formal dinner to be held at the one place Trump admires most in the world, other than Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower: the Palace of Versailles.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
Politely he admires the plaster cove moldings, the ceiling medallions, the marble mantelpieces, things he knows how to speak intelligently and at length about.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Sources have also indicated Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is admired at United, but the fact he is under contract would complicate any move for the Spaniard.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Dimon routinely ranks as one of the CEOs most admired by other top CEOs, so all were interested in his thoughts on a range of topics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
During his first two years as the Lakers coach, Redick admired Williams’ intent on the defensive end from afar and commended the forward’s willingness to defend other teams’ star players.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
“Discover breathtaking prewar grandeur in this spacious one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom co-op featuring exceptional architectural detail and a wood-burning fireplace in one of Greenwich Village’s most admired full-service buildings,” the listing states.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
If I told him how deeply I had admired Mircea, his vision of me would be tarnished forever.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
“Frank Capra” is fond and admiring, even gushing at times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
"But admiring someone does not give you the right to take, to claim as mine texts that are not my own."
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
"I'm so admiring of his strength of character and the zen-like state he's been in since the very beginning of the match," said former British number one Annabel Croft.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Ironically, the very thing that Mark felt he needed to fulfill his dream – a large, admiring audience for his illustrations – began to feel like a prison.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
Sometimes they’d watch me spin with a kind of awe, and I almost thought they were admiring me, but their eyes were only on the gold.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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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.
