admire
UK /ədˈmaɪə/ · US /ədˈmaɪɹ/ verb, proper noun
Forms admires admiring admired
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To be amazed at; to view with surprise; to marvel at.
- verb (transitive) To regard with wonder and delight.
- verb (transitive) To look upon with an elevated feeling of pleasure, as something which calls out approbation, esteem, love or reverence.
- verb (transitive) To estimate or value highly; to hold in high esteem. “to admire a person of high moral worth”
- verb (US, dialectal, rare) To be enthusiastic about (doing something); to want or like (to do something). (Sometimes followed by to.)
- proper noun A city and town in Kansas.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in York County, Pennsylvania.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, from ad + mīror (“wonder at”).
Named for one of its founders, Jacob Admire.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [Archaic]
- verb To regard with wonder and delight; to look upon with an elevated feeling of pleasure, as something which calls out approbation, esteem, love, or reverence; to estimate or prize highly; as, to admire a person of high moral worth, to admire a landscape.
- verb To wonder; to marvel; to be affected with surprise; --sometimes with at. To wonder at Pharaoh, and even admire at myself. Fuller.
Etymology [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “admire”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details