To believe that a person is worthy of respect because of his or her behavior or accomplishments is to admire that person. However, "admire" does not have the same meaning as the word "like." It’s possible to dislike someone but admire his or her work or skills at the same time.

• The students in the class admire Trang because she tries so hard to learn English.
• Al admires his wife’s ability to manage a busy household.
• The employees of the company admire Joe Johnson for his success, but they don’t like the way he treats people. They say he’s a little mean.
• Americans greatly admire the work of Pablo Picasso.
• Jennifer Lopez is admired by millions of people around the world. (This sentence is in the passive voice, present tense.)

The noun form of this word is "admiration."

• We have great admiration for the people of that country and their fight against tyranny.
• Democrats in the United States have a tremendous amount of admiration for President Obama and his accomplishments.
• Admiration for the young athlete faded quickly after poor performance on the field.

A person who does the admiring is called an admirer:

• I’m a great admirer of yours.
• She’s a big admirer of his singing.
• He’s such a big admirer of hers he has a tattoo of her face on his back.
• Juanita was a secret admirer of Hugo until he found out she liked him.

The adverb form for this word is "admirably"; the adjective form is "admirable."

• The U.S. troops in that part of the country completed their mission admirably.
• Their work was admirable.

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First published on December 14, 2012