regard

Formsregards, regarding, regarded

Pluralregards

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To consider or look upon someone or something in a particular way.

   Critics regard the new novel as a modern masterpiece.

   He regarded her plan as impractical and rejected it.

   Similarconsider, view, see, deem, judge

   Note

   The opinion verb, and its usual pattern is regard + object + as: he regards honesty as a duty. The passive is common, and being may be added or left out: regarded as (being) rather dangerous. A second pattern replaces as with with and names a feeling: I regard such a way of life with distaste. Either way, the verb reports a judgment, not a glance.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   Concern or esteem felt for another person; also a relation or reference to something.

   Her regard for the elderly neighbor showed in daily visits.

   They treated the land with little regard for future generations.

   Similarconcern, consideration, respect, care, affection

   Oppositedisregard, indifference, contempt

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The worth or esteem in which someone or something is held by others.

   The surgeon is held in the highest regard by colleagues.

   Public regard for the mayor rose after the reforms.

   Similaresteem, repute

   Oppositecontempt, disdain

   Note

   Esteem seen from the outside: it is something a person is held in, not something they feel, as in held in great regard in Whitehall. It need not be high. Shakespeare's Henry V lists "sleight regard" beside scorn, defiance and contempt. Esteem and repute are close synonyms, and the feeling of concern or esteem is its inward counterpart.

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A particular aspect or detail of a matter; a respect or sense in which something is true.

   The two proposals are alike in many regards.

   In this regard, the law remains unchanged.

   Similarrespect, aspect, way, sense, point

   Note

   In this meaning the word rarely stands alone: it comes after in or with. The Foreign Quarterly Review of 1842 writes "with every regard to the difficulty." In every regard appears in the Kentucky Mines annual report of 1903 and in Everyday Cognition in Adulthood (1989). Because it means "respect," it pairs naturally with every, this and many, just as respect does in in every respect.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To have to do with something; to concern or relate to it.

   The proposed amendments regard environmental standards.

   His question regarded the delivery timeline.

   Similarconcern, involve, affect

   Note

   The verb behind the formula as it regards. A parliamentary debate of 1821, edited by Curson Hansard, calls a question important "as it regards the administration of justice." The plain transitive use takes the topic as its object: that argument does not regard the question. Concern and relate to are the natural equivalents when the phrasing feels stiff.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A steady look or gaze directed at someone or something.

   Her cool regard never left the witness on the stand.

   He felt the weight of the judge's steady regard.

   Similargaze, look, stare, scrutiny

   Note

   The noun's family story starts with this sense: Middle English regard came from Anglo-Norman reguard. That makes it a doublet of reward and a cousin of guard and ward. In modern prose it is a literary word for a look that rests on its object. Lawrence Durrell's Constance (1982) remembers a woman's "warm blue regard," lending the color of her eyes to the look itself.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To look at or observe someone or something carefully.

   Travelers regard the mountains as they pass through the valley.

   The detective regarded the suspect in silence.

   Similarobserve, watch, eye, study, contemplate

   Note

   The verb arrived a little later than the noun, from Old French regarder in the early 15th century, and its looking is careful rather than casual. It readily takes an adverb of manner, as in she regarded us warily. Lord Dunsany's The Gods of Pegāna (1905) pairs it with watch: the Moon is made "to regard with pale eyes the games of the small gods."

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To be turned toward or face something.

   The fishermen's cottages all regard the harbor.

   The cathedral's facade regards the central square.

   Similarface, overlook

   Note

   A sense for buildings and landscapes rather than people: the subject is a place, and the object is what it looks out on. George Sandys (1615) describes a peninsula that "regardeth the maine land." John Evelyn's Memoirs (1654) describe a house "reguarding the river." The look of the observing verb has been turned into geography, much as faces or overlooks would be used today.

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