Meaning & use

inspire

verb·Everyday

To fill someone with the desire or confidence to do or create something.

See it in a sentence

Her courage inspired the whole team to keep pushing through the difficult project.

The old photographs inspired him to start writing about his grandfather's life.

A note on using this word

Inspire usually takes a person as its object and is often followed by 'to' plus a verb, as in 'inspire someone to act.'

Words with a similar meaning

motivateencourage

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

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