Meaning & use
praise
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Meanings
noununcountable
Words that show approval or admiration for someone's actions or qualities.
Grammar: Uncountable, so you say some praise, not a praise.
Patterns
- praise for someone
- praise for something
- in praise of something
The teacher gave the class warm praise for their effort.
The film received high praise from critics.
She blushed at the praise.
noununcountablereligion
Worship or honor offered to God, usually in prayer or song.
Grammar: Often found in phrases like songs of praise.
Patterns
- in praise of God
- give praise to God
The choir sang in praise of God.
They gave praise before the meal.
The service ended with a hymn of praise.
verbtransitive
To say that you admire or approve of someone or something.
Grammar: Takes an object and often for: praise her for her honesty.
Patterns
- praise someone for something
- praise someone as something
- praise something highly
The mayor praised the volunteers for their hard work.
Reviewers praised the book as honest and funny.
He praised his daughter's effort, not just her grades.
Word forms
| third person singular | praises |
|---|---|
| past tense | praised |
| past participle | praised |
| -ing form | praising |
Common combinations
- high praise
- The chef earned high praise from the judges.
- shower with praise
- Fans showered the singer with praise.
- deserve praise
- Your work deserves praise.
- praise someone to the skies
- The critics praised the actor to the skies.
- sing someone's praises
- My boss sings your praises to everyone.
- praise highly
- Her teachers praised her highly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- compliment
- A compliment is a single polite remark, usually about something personal, while praise can be longer and more formal.
- commend
- Commend is more formal and often used for official approval of effort or bravery.
- applaud
- Applaud literally means clapping, and figuratively means approving publicly.
- flatter
- Flatter means praising too much or insincerely to gain something, which praise does not imply.
Opposites
Word family
- praiseworthy adjective
- deserving admiration
- praiseworthily adverb
- in a way deserving praise
- unpraised adjective
- not given approval
- self-praise noun
- admiration you give yourself
Commonly confused: praise or prays? praise or prize?
praise vs prays
Prays (verb) sounds like praise but means speaking to God.
praise vs prize
A prize is an award, while praise is the words of approval; they sound close but are spelled and used differently.
Practice
The manager ____ the new employee for finishing the project early.
Choose one answer.
Praised means expressed approval. Prayed and prized look and sound close but have different meanings, and raised does not take for in this sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “praise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.