praise
Americannoun
-
the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation; laudation.
- Synonyms:
- compliment, approbation, applause, plaudit, acclamation
- Antonyms:
- condemnation
-
the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship.
a hymn of praise to God.
-
the state of being approved or admired.
The king lived in praise for many years.
-
Archaic. a ground for praise, or a merit.
verb (used with object)
-
praises,
present (3rd person singular)
-
praised,
past participle, past
-
praising
present participle
idioms
noun
-
the act of expressing commendation, admiration, etc
-
the extolling of a deity or the rendering of homage and gratitude to a deity
-
the condition of being commended, admired, etc
-
archaic the reason for praise
-
to commend someone highly
verb
-
to express commendation, admiration, etc, for
-
to proclaim or describe the glorious attributes of (a deity) with homage and thanksgiving
Synonym Usage
See approve.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
praisernoun
-
self-praisenoun
-
superpraisenoun
-
outpraiseverb (used with object)
-
repraiseverb (used with object)
-
half-praisedadjective
-
half-praisingadjective
-
praisefuladjective
-
praiselessadjective
-
self-praisingadjective
-
unpraisedadjective
-
unpraisefuladjective
-
unpraisingadjective
-
praisefullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
praisesimple
-
praisessimple
-
have praisedperfect
-
has praisedperfect
-
am praisingprogressive
-
are praisingprogressive
-
is praisingprogressive
-
have been praisingperfect progressive
-
has been praisingperfect progressive
Past
-
praisedsimple
-
had praisedperfect
-
was praisingprogressive
-
were praisingprogressive
-
had been praisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of praise
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English verb preisen, from Old French preisier “to value, prize,” from Late Latin pretiāre, derivative of Latin pretium “worth, reward” ( see price); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
Praise means "admiration or approval," and when you're on the receiving end of it, you feel great. Whether it's used as a verb or a noun, praise means "approval." If you enthusiastically praise your dog, he's likely to wag his tail and expect a treat. What you've given him (in addition to the treat) is praise, the noun. In a religious context, the verb praise is interchangeable with worship, as when a minister says, "Praise God."
Vocabulary lists containing praise
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Schwarzenegger and Newsom piled praise upon each other during the Wednesday afternoon discussion, hugging at the end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
The show, created by Dunham when she was 23-years-old, attracted both praise and controversy during its airing.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
In praise of the secret supper club: By design, hidden restaurants tend to fly under the radar.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026
For a book that claims to praise Diana, Mr. Spencer makes her sound like a borderline psychopath.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Once it was simple to praise these men and their heroic achievements in painting a picture of American pride and patriotism.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Semisch wishes that May had fact-checked some of the misleading claims by the right, but she praises the series’ subtlety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Today, Martin praises the "really nice community" with "more young families moving in", although soaring rents have pushed out some lower-income residents.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He shadowboxes with ostriches and brings in celebrities like Rick Ross and Naomi Campbell for IBA events; he praises Stalin and rides private jets.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Chawawa praises theatres for opening their doors to the Black Boys Theatre Club and other efforts to attract more diverse audiences, but says lower ticket prices and "a societal shift" will make a bigger difference.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
The poet Carl Sandburg had sung its praises just two years before: “Hog Butcher for the World, / Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat..../ Stormy, husky, brawling, / City of the Big Shoulders.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
It praised “artificial intelligence and machine translation” as “cost-effective methods for bridging language barriers and reducing inefficiencies with the translation process,” and called for phasing out “unnecessary multilingual offerings.”
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
It praised Entalpic’s “expertise in surfaces and interfaces for semiconductor manufacturing and next-generation electronics.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Recruitment was praised in summer 2025, when Senne Lammens was signed ahead of Emi Martinez, who was Amorim's preference, and Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, plus Sesko, reinvigorated United's attack.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Without disclosing who he will vote for, the 47-year-old chainsaw operator praised the harmony between Catholics and evangelicals.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Regiomontanus spoke in praise of the mathematical sciences, and he praised them by denigrating the Aristotelian philosophy taught in the universities.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
“Sensible cat books,” Spark once said, “are devoted to praising the cat for its catness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led tributes to the actor, praising Patekar's versatility and outspoken personality.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Held in pre-trial detention ever since, Goktas is facing charges of insulting Erdogan and incitement to public hatred, with prosecutors later adding an extra charge of praising crime and criminals, according to the indictment.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Fellow stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon issued a statement at the time, praising the women for coming forward and made it clear that they supported them.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
I learned from these former secretaries of Mr. Muhammad that while he was praising me to my face, he was tearing me apart behind my back.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
