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 of adore

• love

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

League handlers gave Heidenreich a chance to walk through the crowd and dap up the adoring fans. —Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2026

This affectionate boy adores people, thrives on human attention and will happily lean in for pets, snuggles or just to be close. —Maryanne Dell, Oc Register, 25 Apr. 2026

Allow yourself to be seen, mingle and let people adore you. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026

From a recent value meal rollout to the once beloved all-day breakfast menu (RIP), McDonald’s is no stranger to innovation and finding new ways to deliver delicious value that its fans are bound to adore. —Molly Burford, Southern Living, 22 Apr. 2026

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

Rhymes for adore

• abhor
• abor
• afore
• ardour
• ashore
• backdoor
• before
• bookstore
• candour
• centaur
• claymore
• decor

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