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admire

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "admire", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "admire" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "admire" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

admire is aEnglishverb. It means: To be amazed at; to view with surprise; to marvel at. Pronounced /ədˈmaɪə/. It ranks #7,412 in English word frequency. Often confused with amir and admit.

Key facts for admire
PropertyValue
Headwordadmire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ədˈmaɪə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,412
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of admire in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for admire is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ədˈmaɪə/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,412 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for admire, with forms such as "addmire", "adimre", and "admier". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "amir", "admit", "adore", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, from ad + mīror (“wonder at”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is admire, spelled A-D-M-I-R-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To be amazed at; to view with surprise; to marvel at.
  2. 2
    To regard with wonder and delight.
  3. 3
    To look upon with an elevated feeling of pleasure, as something which calls out approbation, esteem, love or reverence.
  4. 4
    To estimate or value highly; to hold in high esteem.
  5. 5
    To be enthusiastic about (doing something); to want or like (to do something). (Sometimes followed by to.)

Etymology

From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, from ad + mīror (“wonder at”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: addmire,adimre,admier,admirre,admmire,admrie,amdire,damire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for admire

Misspelling Variants of "admire"

addmire7adimre6admier6admirre7admmire7admrie6amdire6damire6
Misspelling Variants of "admire"

Frequency rank: #7,412 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "admire"?
"admire" is spelled A-D-M-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ədˈmaɪə/.
What does "admire" mean?
As a verb, "admire" means: To be amazed at; to view with surprise; to marvel at.
What words are commonly confused with "admire"?
"admire" is commonly confused with "amir", "admit", "adore". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "admire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "admire" is /ədˈmaɪə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "admire"?
From Middle English admyren, borrowed from Middle French admirer, from Latin admīror, from ad + mīror (“wonder at”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.