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worship

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verb

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Synonym Chooser

How does the verb worship differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of worship are adore, reverence, revere, and venerate. While all these words mean "to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully," worship implies homage usually expressed in words or ceremony.

worships their memory

In what contexts can adore take the place of worship?

The synonyms adore and worship are sometimes interchangeable, but adore implies love and stresses the notion of an individual and personal attachment.

we adored our doctor

When can revere be used instead of worship?

In some situations, the words revere and worship are roughly equivalent. However, revere stresses deference and tenderness of feeling.

a professor revered by her students

When could reverence be used to replace worship?

The words reverence and worship can be used in similar contexts, but 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

When is venerate a more appropriate choice than worship?

While the synonyms venerate and worship are close in meaning, venerate implies a holding as holy or sacrosanct because of character, association, or age.

heroes still venerated

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of worship
Noun
Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. James Bickerton, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025 Recent attacks on houses of worship have put security issues back in the spotlight. Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
Verb
Lee, one of the few female religious leaders of the 18th century, and her followers were known for worshipping through ecstatic song and movement. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025 According to local law enforcement, the suspect crashed a pickup truck through the front door of the church, where hundreds of people were worshipping, then got out of the vehicle and started shooting with an assault rifle. Jason Ma, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for worship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worship
Verb
  • For all their differences in background, temperament, and approaches to art, Matisse and Picasso both venerated Cézanne, Delacroix, Manet, and van Gogh.
    Christopher C. Gorham September 29, Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025
  • In this way, such war memorials are not only about revering soldiers but also venerating the nation-state.
    Kerry Whigham, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Just the belief, again, these guys love playing football together.
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2025
  • However, there's one dark color that designer Heather Kirk of Kirk Riley Design particularly loves using on kitchen cabinets, and that's a rich green.
    Tessa Cooper, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Seeing how my friends and classmates adored Madiba had a huge impact on my life.
    Sigal Ratner-Arias, Billboard, 10 Oct. 2025
  • Eric Rahill co-stars as Maddie’s adoring husband, while Kate Berlant plays her ride-or-die bestie.
    Brent Lang, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Li described herself as having a lifelong suspicion of all forms of emotional melodrama, stemming from her experience as a child in China listening to propagandist operas, in which singers made extravagant claims of adoration and allegiance.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
  • From his many, many jobs to his love and adoration of his mother, Kirk was one of a kind.
    Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 5 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • But Pi is precociously enlightened, his innocence not a problem to be rectified but a quality to be reverenced.
    Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025
  • But Trump also reverenced the tough job Emmer has in keeping the GOP majority together, with which Emmer is all too familiar after the chaotic last two years.
    Emily Brooks, The Hill, 3 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Boise State had its 11th straight sellout Saturday night — a crowd of nearly 33,000 at Albertsons Stadium — but about half of the Bronco Nation that head coach Spencer Danielson likes to brag about didn’t come back after halftime.
    Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Derek likes to mess with reality and try to capture a feeling on-camera instead of rehearsing everything to death.
    Keaton Bell, Vogue, 11 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Destroy this death worshipping, terroristic cult.
    Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Hank Hill — stiff, sincere, propane-worshipping — wasn’t a joke.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Bernie Mac, who starred in the Ocean's trilogy as fast-talking Frank Catton and was revered as one of the funniest comic actors of the last half-century, died at 50 due to cardiac arrest just a year after Ocean's 13 premiered.
    Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Mothers are simultaneously revered and ignored in many ways.
    Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 8 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Worship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worship. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.

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