Meaning & use
esteem
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
A feeling of respect and admiration for someone because of their qualities, achievements or character.
Grammar: Uncountable noun: hold someone in high esteem. Followed by for or of: esteem for a teacher.
Patterns
- hold someone in high esteem
- esteem for someone
- win the esteem of someone
The nurse was held in high esteem by patients and colleagues alike.
His honest work earned him the esteem of the whole village.
Her esteem for her old professor never faded.
verbtransitiveformal
To respect and admire someone or something greatly.
Grammar: Takes an object and is often passive: she is highly esteemed by her peers.
Patterns
- esteem someone
- be esteemed by someone
Her students esteem her for her patience and fairness.
The poet was esteemed throughout Europe during his lifetime.
We esteem honesty above cleverness in our team.
verbtransitiveold-fashionedformal
To consider or regard something in a particular way; to count something as valuable or as a certain thing.
Grammar: A rare, old-fashioned sense used in polite letters: I esteem it a privilege.
Patterns
- esteem something a privilege
- esteem it an honor to do something
I esteem it a privilege to speak to you tonight.
He esteemed his friends' advice more valuable than any book.
Word forms
| third person singular | esteems |
|---|---|
| past tense | esteemed |
| past participle | esteemed |
| -ing form | esteeming |
Common combinations
- hold in high esteem
- Colleagues hold the director in high esteem.
- low esteem
- The profession fell into low esteem after the scandal.
- self-esteem
- Praise from her coach boosted her self-esteem.
- win the esteem of
- He slowly won the esteem of the neighbors.
- mutual esteem
- The two rivals were bound by mutual esteem.
- highly esteemed
- She is a highly esteemed lawyer in the region.
Synonyms and how they differ
- respect
- Respect is the everyday word and can be given to anyone, while esteem implies admiration for real worth.
- regard
- Regard is milder and neutral, as in high regard, while esteem can feel warmer and more admiring.
- admiration
- Admiration is a stronger, more personal feeling of delight in someone's qualities, while esteem is more formal and steady.
- honor
- Honor includes public recognition or a title, whereas esteem is only a private or shared feeling of respect.
Opposites
Word family
- esteemed adjective
- respected and admired, as in an esteemed colleague
- self-esteem noun
- the respect you have for yourself
- estimable adjective
- worthy of respect or admiration
- disesteem noun
- a rare word for loss of respect
Commonly confused: esteem or estimate?
esteem vs estimate
Estimate means to make a rough calculation of a size or value; the two words share a Latin root but are used differently today.
Practice
The retired judge is held in high ___ by the community.
Choose one answer.
Hold in high esteem is a fixed collocation using the noun. Esteemed is an adjective and estimate has a different meaning, which makes it the tempting wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “esteem”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.