adored; adoring

transitive verb

1
: to worship or honor as a deity or as divine
2
: to regard with loving admiration and devotion
He adored his wife.
3
: to be very fond of
adores pecan pie
adorer noun
Choose the Right Synonym for adore

revere, reverence, venerate, worship, adore mean to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully.

revere stresses deference and tenderness of feeling.

a professor revered by her students

reverence presupposes an intrinsic merit and inviolability in the one honored and a similar depth of feeling in the one honoring.

reverenced the academy's code of honor

venerate implies a holding as holy or sacrosanct because of character, association, or age.

heroes still venerated

worship implies homage usually expressed in words or ceremony.

worships their memory

adore implies love and stresses the notion of an individual and personal attachment.

we adored our doctor

Examples of adore in a Sentence

He's a good doctor. All his patients adore him. They adored shopping in all the boutiques.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The game was adored by critics and fans, who praised its unique painterly art style and innovative action gameplay, but unfortunately sold quite poorly initially. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024 The hottest beverage trend right now is completely booze-free and adored by the Latter-day Saint community: dirty soda. Karri Peifer, Axios, 10 Dec. 2024 Mama June Shannon hopes a new house will help with 'nightmare' loss of her daughter The reality TV matriarch also said Cardwell adored the constant attention that the family's fame brought. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 10 Dec. 2024 Price upon publish date of this article: $12,000 Gucci Flora Print Silk Scarf $520 Buy Now at gucci For any giftee who adores Grace Kelly’s enduring style, this luxury gift is an essential. Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 8 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for adore 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aouren, adouren, borrowed from Anglo-French aurer, ahourer, adourer (with d restored from Latin), going back to Latin adōrāre "to plead with, appeal to, approach (a god) as a suppliant or worshipper, treat with reverence, admire," from ad- ad- + ōrāre "to pray to, beseech" — more at oration

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of adore was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near adore

Cite this Entry

“Adore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adore. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

adore

verb
ə-ˈdō(ə)r How to pronounce adore (audio)
-ˈdȯ(ə)r
adored; adoring
1
2
: to be very fond of
adoration
ˌad-ə-ˈrā-shən
noun
adorer
ə-ˈdōr-ər
-ˈdȯr-
noun
Etymology

from early French adourer "to adore," from Latin adorare (same meaning), from ad- "to" and orare "to speak, pray" — related to oracle, oration

More from Merriam-Webster on adore

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