Meaning & use
extol
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Meaning
verbtransitiveformal
To praise someone or something warmly and at some length, often to persuade others to admire it too.
Grammar: Always takes an object, often with 'as': she extolled the town as a perfect weekend escape.
Patterns
- extol something
- extol the virtues of something
- extol someone as something
At the dinner, the director extolled the volunteers' dedication for nearly ten minutes.
Travel writers have long extolled the beauty of the northern coast.
The brochure extols the hotel as a haven of calm in the busy city.
Word forms
| third person singular | extols |
|---|---|
| past tense | extolled |
| past participle | extolled |
| -ing form | extolling |
Common combinations
- extol the virtues of
- My uncle never stops extolling the virtues of cold showers.
- extol the benefits
- The study extols the benefits of walking to work.
- extol someone as
- The press extolled the young pianist as a prodigy.
- widely extolled
- The soup is widely extolled as the best in the region.
- extol the merits of
- He extolled the merits of the new software during the presentation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- praise
- 'Praise' is the everyday word and can be brief, whereas 'extol' suggests enthusiastic, extended praise, usually in a speech or in writing.
- laud
- 'Laud' is similarly formal but often sounds more ceremonial, as in lauding an achievement or a public figure.
- glorify
- 'Glorify' can imply praising something as greater than it really is, which 'extol' does not necessarily do.
- applaud
- 'Applaud' literally means to clap and more loosely means to approve, so it is less about lengthy words of admiration than 'extol'.
Opposites
Word family
- extoller noun
- a person who praises something highly; rare
- extolment noun
- the act of praising highly; rare and formal
Commonly confused: extol or extort? extol or exhort?
extol vs extort
'Extort' means to obtain money or a promise by force or threats, and it looks similar but has nothing to do with praise.
extol vs exhort
'Exhort' means to urge someone strongly to do something, usually followed by 'to', unlike 'extol', which means to praise.
Practice
At the ceremony, the director ___ the volunteers' dedication for nearly ten minutes.
Choose one answer.
'Extolled' means praised warmly. 'Exhorted' is tempting but means urged, and it needs 'to' plus a verb; 'extorted' means obtained by threats.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extol”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.