DictionaryAI

admire

verb
ad-MYR/ədˈmaɪɹ/UKad-MY-uh/ədˈmaɪə/

Formsadmires, admiring, admired

5 meanings of admire

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To look upon someone or something with pleasure and a feeling of approval, esteem, love, or reverence.

    Crowds gathered to admire the newly restored cathedral.

    He admired her courage in standing up to the board.

    Similarappreciate, respect, applaud, praise

    Oppositedespise, scorn, disdain

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To regard someone or something with wonder and delight.

    Tourists admire the glittering harbor as their ferry approaches.

    She admired the intricate clockwork mechanism for hours.

    Similarmarvel, appreciate, enjoy

    Note

    Here wonder begins to carry delight. The sense sits halfway between the obsolete "marvel at" meaning and plain approval. In Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great (c. 1587–1588), "the men that al the world admires" stand beside soldiers who "stand amazd," so awe is still close at hand. Pleasure has joined astonishment, but the older sense has not yet faded.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To value someone or something highly; to hold in high esteem.

    Economists admire the policy for its long-term benefits.

    Voters admired the senator's willingness to compromise.

    Similarrespect, value, esteem, praise, applaud

    Oppositedespise, scorn, disdain, deplore

    Note

    Esteem that outlasts the moment of looking: settled regard rather than spectacle. The sense is at home in the passive, with much or very much as the intensifier, as in "He'd always been very much admired by his colleagues." Eminem's "The Way I Am" (2000) turns it sour, with the rapper fed up with all the admiration. Being held in high esteem can also be felt as a weight.

  4. 4
    verbdialectalUS
    To be enthusiastic about doing something; to want or like to do it.

    I'd admire to see the old homestead again before winter sets in.

    And I'd admire seeing this creek become a sort of stopping place for geese of one sort and another.
    1976, Field & Stream

    Similarlike, love, want

    Oppositehate

    Note

    A rare US dialect use in which admire means "would like," typically in the conditional I'd admire. It takes either an infinitive, as in Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1953), "I'd admire to know what books she reads," or an -ing form, as in Field & Stream (1976), "I'd admire seeing this creek become…". Outside dialogue it reads as regional color, so keep it for a character's voice.

Less common meaning

  1. 5
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To be amazed at something; to view it with surprise and wonder.
    examples rather to be admired than imitated
    1640, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State
    Note

    The oldest meaning, closest to the Latin mīror, "wonder at": astonishment, with no approval implied. Read older prose with that in mind. When Thomas Fuller writes in The Holy State (1640) of examples "rather to be admired than imitated," he means they are startling, not praiseworthy. Robert Burton's "admiring how he came there" shows it could take a how-clause, much as marvel still does.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, formed from ad- plus mīror meaning "to wonder at."