venerate
Americanverb (used with object)
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venerates,
present (3rd person singular)
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venerated,
past participle, past
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venerating
present participle
verb
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to hold in deep respect; revere
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to honour in recognition of qualities of holiness, excellence, wisdom, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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veneratesimple
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veneratessimple
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have veneratedperfect
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has veneratedperfect
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am veneratingprogressive
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are veneratingprogressive
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is veneratingprogressive
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have been veneratingperfect progressive
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has been veneratingperfect progressive
Past
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veneratedsimple
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had veneratedperfect
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was veneratingprogressive
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were veneratingprogressive
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had been veneratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of venerate
1615–25; < Latin venerātus, past participle of venerārī to solicit the goodwill of (a god), worship, revere, verbal derivative of vener-, stem of venus, presumably in its original sense “desire”; see Venus)
Explanation
To venerate is to worship, adore, be in awe of. You probably don't venerate your teacher or boss; however, you may act like you do! The word hasn't come far from its Latin roots in venerari, "to worship." Although you can certainly venerate a deity, a person can deserve it, too. We don't usually venerate our friends: instead, we usually save this feeling for deities or remarkable people who inspire awe. Mother Teresa was venerated for her work with the poor, and Gandhi was venerated for his efforts for peace, but most people aren't venerated for normal stuff like taking out the trash or hanging out on a Saturday.
Vocabulary lists containing venerate
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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:
That made it an object to venerate as well as a beacon amid political storms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
What "Christians still venerate today, in 2026, in the relics of a saint is the presence of the Holy Spirit," he said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
Affectionate fans venerate the dialogue’s electric crackle and the cast’s peerless comedic timing.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
It is, however, one reason why we venerate the founders.
From Slate ● May 8, 2024
An offering fell to the floor, the host, and Lana knelt to venerate and retrieve it.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
His considerable height, lean frame and beard only added to the sense that, at least in spirit, Mr. Glass has succeeded in summoning the man he so clearly venerates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
“A culture that venerates Cory from ‘Boy Meets World,’ or Zach & Slater over Screech in ‘Saved by the Bell,’ or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in ‘Family Matters,’ will not produce the best engineers.”
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024
Samnite bronze head, a rare Waldesian Evangelical community and an ancient annual pageant with pagan roots that venerates a circular cane garlanded in wild cyclamen flowers.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
Boy Gru venerates these villains and wants to join them.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2022
That greyhaired minister of God, whom all Scotland venerates, hath been here from the great city on one of his holy pilgrimages.
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson
The clause survives as decoration: incorporated, venerated, and incapable of stopping a single seizure.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
It doesn’t hurt that she’s attired in a series of extremely flattering outfits by the venerated costume designer Travis Banton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
"From the very beginning, since the time of the catacombs, Christians have venerated the bones of martyrs, the relics of martyrs, and they have never really experienced it as something macabre," Cesareo said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
St Francis is one of the most venerated figures in Christianity and was born in the Italian city of Assisi in 1181 or 1182.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
This was always followed by Collins’s Ode on the Passions, wherein I particularly venerated Mr. Wopsle as Revenge throwing his blood-stained sword in thunder down, and taking the War-denouncing trumpet with a withering look.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
The U.S.-influenced counterculture of the 1960s inverted the social order, venerating indigenous folkways and fueling aspirations for full independence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
At the Butovo firing range, a Stalin-era execution site near Moscow that has become a shrine to his victims, visiting Russians warned against venerating the wartime leader or emulating his ideas.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
The themes of performances at Mr Gopalakrishnan's house include honouring a deified ancestor, venerating a warrior-hunter deity, and worshipping tiger spirits symbolising strength and protection.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024
“This dance is native and we have been venerating the Virgin for more than 50 years,” Vázquez said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
There was a village in the north of France where peasants were venerating a dog as a saint.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
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.
