admire

[ ad-mahyuhr ]
See synonyms for admire on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),ad·mired, ad·mir·ing.
  1. to regard with wonder, pleasure, or approval.

  2. to regard with wonder or surprise (usually used ironically or sarcastically): I admire your audacity.

verb (used without object),ad·mired, ad·mir·ing.
  1. to feel or express admiration.

  2. Dialect. to take pleasure; like or desire: I would admire to go.

Idioms about admire

  1. be admiring of, Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to admire: He's admiring of his brother's farm.

Origin of admire

1
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin admīrārī, equivalent to ad- ad- + mīrārī (in Medieval Latin mīrāre ) “to wonder at, admire”

Other words for admire

Opposites for admire

Other words from admire

  • ad·mir·er, noun
  • pre·ad·mire, verb (used with object), pre·ad·mired, pre·ad·mir·ing.
  • qua·si-ad·mire, verb, qua·si-ad·mired, qua·si-ad·mir·ing.
  • un·ad·mired, adjective

Words Nearby admire

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use admire in a sentence

  • Let them that sail on the sea, tell the dangers thereof: and when we hear with our ears, we shall admire.

  • I'd admire to see him cavorting around on the pinnacles after horse-thieves or whisky-runners or a bunch of bad Indians.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • We idlers had permission granted us to land and visit the town, in which, however, we found but little to admire.

  • The dining room was for the souls of the locals, who could admire the desert more conveniently than find a good meal.

    Fee of the Frontier | Horace Brown Fyfe
  • I greatly admire his character, but he positively could not have made his way along the fire trenches I inspected yesterday.

British Dictionary definitions for admire

admire

/ (ədˈmaɪə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to regard with esteem, respect, approval, or pleased surprise

  2. archaic to wonder at

Origin of admire

1
C16: from Latin admīrāri to wonder at, from ad- to, at + mīrāri to wonder, from mīrus wonderful

Derived forms of admire

  • admirer, noun
  • admiring, adjective
  • admiringly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012