adores

verb

present tense third-person singular of adore
1
as in loves
to feel passion, devotion, or tenderness for an attentive, solicitous husband who clearly adores his wife

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in worships
to love or admire too much adores her older sister so much that she cannot see her considerable faults

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in venerates
to offer honor or respect to (someone) as a divine power the Roman soldier was beheaded for adoring the Christian god

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in enjoys
to take pleasure in I adore those earrings—wherever did you get them?

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 adores Life on a yacht sounds glamorous—but imagine having to decorate one, even for people one adores? — Mitchell Owens, Architectural Digest, 10 June 2026 Big brother Saint clearly adores his little brother. — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 9 May 2026 Everyone adores Laurence’s trio of dim sum, and there are no critiques of Sherry’s beef-tongue dish. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 9 June 2026 For Fatima, a practicing Muslim who adores her parents, the stakes feel even higher. — Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 Either way, Gale adores this team and Brunson’s captaincy, and the constant comparisons to Reed’s team and captaincy back in the day. — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 12 June 2026 O’Brien has also included a useful internal meat thermometer cheat sheet and, because the couple adores wines, another chapter on wines and pairing tips, with a cheat sheet. — Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2026 Beautiful, high-energy, charming, unfiltered, fun and funny, with a quick wit and gallows humor, Margaret adores her daughter fiercely and completely, but also fears losing her love. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 2 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for adores
  1. loves
  2. likes
  3. venerates
  4. enjoys
  5. idolizes
  6. reveres
  7. savors
  8. relishes
Verb
  • For the one who loves peanut butter-banana everything, this icebox pie is the best of both worlds.
    — Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 5 July 2026
  • Needless to say, Bibi loves her room and doesn't leave it much.
    — Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 5 July 2026
Definition of loves
Verb
  • Instead, Peltier likes to think of it as adding intentional pauses into the rhythm of a home.
    — Maria Sabella, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 July 2026
  • The video has more than four million views on TikTok and X and some 175,000 Instagram likes.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
Definition of likes
Verb
  • Kin Coedel collaborated with Meti and Hijra women in Nepal in the creation of Between Reverence and Refusal, giving them recognition and exposing the paradox of a culture that venerates femininity in myth but doesn’t acknowledge those who embody it in everyday life.
    — Vogue, Vogue, 1 June 2026
  • Redemptive suffering Shared sorrow is a key part of Iran’s Twelver Shiite identity, which venerates the Prophet Muhammad’s family through daughter Fatima and cousin and son-in-law, Ali.
    — Mary Thurlkill, The Conversation, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of venerates
Verb
  • Jaslyn is also very active and enjoys spending time outdoors.
    — MARE Staff, Boston Herald, 5 July 2026
  • So the profit margin in a typical service firm tends to sit in the single digits, a world away from the fat margins a software company enjoys.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of enjoys
Verb
  • There’s friction between the defense lawyer Sam (Nick Nolte) and his wife, Leigh (Jessica Lange), rooted in Sam’s past infidelity and his current flirtations with a young courthouse clerk who idolizes him.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 26 June 2026
  • Bruno idolizes his father and wants to become an illustrator like him.
    — Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 25 May 2026
Definition of idolizes
Verb
  • The South reveres hydrangeas for their long-lasting blooms.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 23 June 2026
  • Like many small children, my daughter reveres garbage trucks.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 18 June 2026
Definition of reveres
Verb
  • My mother savors her espresso slowly.
    — Lucia Aronica, CNBC, 10 June 2026
  • In helming a tale of a lonely boy who savors friendship with a visitor from outer space, the American director drew on his own memories of childhood isolation.
    — Will Gosner Britannica Editors June 8, Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 June 2026
Definition of savors
Verb
  • The mathematician in him relishes its flawless precision.
    — The Editors, Robb Report, 27 June 2026
  • Outside of the recording booth, Hale relishes the opportunity to send voice memos from his alter ego.
    — Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2026
Definition of relishes

Browse Nearby Words

adored
adores
adoring
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Adores.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/adores. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on adores

Nglish: Translation of adores for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All