approve

verb

ap·prove | \ ə-ˈprüv

approved; approving

Definition of approve

1 : to have or express a favorable opinion of couldn't approve such conduct

2a : to accept as satisfactory hopes she will approve the date of the meeting

b : to give formal or official sanction (see sanction entry 1 sense 4c) to : ratify Congress approved the proposed budget.

3 obsolete : prove, attest

intransitive verb

: to take a favorable view doesn't approve of fighting

Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about approve

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Choose the Right Synonym for approve

approve, endorse, sanction, accredit, certify mean to have or express a favorable opinion of. approve often implies no more than this but may suggest considerable esteem or admiration. the parents approve of the marriage endorse suggests an explicit statement of support. publicly endorsed her for Senator sanction implies both approval and authorization. the President sanctioned covert operations accredit and certify usually imply official endorsement attesting to conformity to set standards. the board voted to accredit the college must be certified to teach

Examples of approve in a Sentence

I don't care if all the other parents are letting their kids do it; I still don't approve. The state has approved the building plans, so work on the new school can begin immediately. Your supervisor must approve the report before it can be sent.

Recent Examples on the Web

Some have been approved, like Luxturna from Spark Therapeutics, which treats a hereditary disease that causes blindness and affects roughly 2,000 patients in the U.S. Roche agreed to buy... — Charley Grant, WSJ, "The Side Effects of Million-Dollar Drugs," 1 Mar. 2019 Emojipedia On Tuesday, a whopping 230 emojis were approved by the Unicode Consortium a month in advance of their release, which is a long-winded way of saying that more than two hundred new emojis are coming to your phone this year. — Jenny Hollander, Marie Claire, "These New iOS Emojis Coming in 2019 Are Going to Cause All the Drama," 5 Feb. 2019 Its regulatory arm approved 80 new games today, as first reported by Reuters. — Shannon Liao, The Verge, "China lifts video game ban but not for its biggest player," 29 Dec. 2018 Judges in the same court have recently approved plea deals that offered similarly lenient sentences to two men. — Jennifer Wright, Harper's BAZAAR, "Cyntoia Brown Proves Women “With a Past” Have No Future," 12 Dec. 2018 Congress had just approved a big economic plan, and the president signed it into law. — Chad Pergram, Fox News, "Trump, GOP plan to rescind budget spending has precedent but rocky path in Congress," 2 Oct. 2018 Arizona’s plan has broad support but hasn’t been approved by the Legislature, a factor that has made the negotiations on the drought contingency plan more complex. — Felicia Fonseca, The Seattle Times, "6 states backed Colorado River plan; Arizona faces deadline," 30 Jan. 2019 Another option is for the president to declare a national emergency and build the wall with money that Congress hasn’t approved. — Peter Nicholas, WSJ, "President Trump, After Shutdown Ends, Says ‘We Will Build the Wall’," 26 Jan. 2019 Earlier this week, the official China Securities Journal reported that an initial handful of games had been approved, citing the deputy director of the Communist Party’s propaganda unit. — Shannon Liao, The Verge, "China lifts video game ban but not for its biggest player," 29 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'approve.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.