adore

verb

ə-ˈdȯr 

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

Synonyms

• cherish
• love
• worship

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

Morrow adores Il Posto Trattoria for Italian comfort food, Kitchen Door for American-Vietnamese fusion and ZuZu for Spanish tapas. —Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 15 Sep. 2023

Maltese were adored by royalty as well, including Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I, who both had Maltese dogs. —Nicole Letts, Southern Living, 15 Sep. 2023

Hugh Jackman recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary with an adoring Instagram post on April 11. —Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 15 Sep. 2023

One savvy Caribbean entrepreneur reportedly bought a 35mm print of the film and traveled around the islands by boat, screening it to adoring crowds. —Vulture, 15 Sep. 2023

One epic point even led to impressed claps from Sabalenka, as Gauff egged on the adoring crowd for bigger cheers. —Julie Mazziotta, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2023

Charles has supporters, but not so many ardent fans Charles isn’t adored, as his mother was. —Karla Adam, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2023

Pasta lovers will adore our Creamy Kale and Pasta Bake. —Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 4 Sep. 2023

Greek auteur Lanthimos is a polarizing filmmaker — where some adore his eccentric takes, others can be turned off by them. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 3 Sep. 2023

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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

Kids Definition

adore

verb

ə-ˈdō(ə)r 

-ˈdȯ(ə)r

adored; adoring

1

: worship entry 2 sense 1

adore God

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