APPROVAL Synonyms: 52 Similar and Opposite Words

approval

noun

ə-ˈprü-vəl

Definition of approval

as in favor

an acceptance of something as satisfactory does this poster I made for the recital meet with your approval?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 approval There’s currently around a four-year waiting list for approval. — Sasha Allen, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2026 Tobe Awaka is the only player who has earned Splitter’s complete approval, earning every minute he’s given on the court through tireless effort to claim any and all rebounds during his rotations. — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026 The mission will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and ULA said the launch date is pending range approval. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 30 Oct. 2026 Each team checks its own systems, validates availability, assesses cost impact, secures approvals and manually triggers updates across downstream systems. — Jayashree Arunkumar, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for approval

Recent Examples of Synonyms for approval

Noun

But this election cycle, Democrats are banking on several factors working in their favor.

— Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Instead, as would later happen in Kansas and Nebraska, slaveowners and Southern sympathizers on the one hand and abolitionists and Free-Soilers on the other all flocked to California to try to tip the political scales in their favor.

— Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of favor

Noun

To be clear, praying for political leaders is hardly novel or uncommon, and the bishops who prayed for blessings could just as easily have been doing so for any supplicant.

— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
Venus spends all month in a supportive sextile with Jupiter, which multiplies your blessings through the sheer force of your support network.

— Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of blessing

Noun

The team was slated for elimination under funding cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, following the approbation of a $9 billion budget, outlining $57 million in cuts to general fund departments, through a 4-1 vote on June 10.

— Reeti Malhotra, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026
This too is greeted with collective approbation; everyone recognizes that this is the right thing to do.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 June 2026

Definition of approbation

Noun

For those unfamiliar with Fielder’s career or filmmaking approach, his assent to award season hopeful — even frontrunner — has felt like welcoming a strange alien to a planet inhabited by the slick Hollywood establishment.

— Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Throughout our conversation, in fact, the pair chuckles, nods along to each other’s answers, interjects sounds of assent.

— Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of assent

Noun

The Associated Press says GOP officials are worried that Libertarian candidates can siphon off votes in close elections across the country, making a difference in results come Tuesday night.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
Polls broadly show Democrats favored in the national popular vote for the House, and competitive in a series of red-state Senate races that will decide control of the upper chamber.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of vote

Noun

Owners Benjamin Sormonte, from the south of France, and Elisa Marshall, from Toronto, started the cafe as a nod to their mothers and early childhood experiences in the kitchen.

— Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Oct. 2026
Nearly 13 months ago after a 30-17 victory over Detroit at Arrowhead Stadium, Chiefs coach Andy Reid embellished his postgame news conference with a nod to the men in the trenches for the offensive production.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of nod

Noun

Industry support When Corral’s exit from Movistar Plus was announced last year, there was an outpouring of anger, grief and concern from Spain’s creative community that is rarely afforded to a commissioning executive.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2026
As the disease progresses, muscles deteriorate, limiting the ability to hold one’s head upright, sit without support, raise arms or even breathe.

— Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of support

Noun

That inspired a late-breaking police union endorsement and a surge of corporate cash for McKinney, boosting him to a second-place finish and knocking out Feldstein Soto in a historic rout.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Carpenter has received endorsements from four of the five current Roseville City Council members, including Alvord.

— Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026