To regard or treat someone or something with profound respect.
Reach for it when describing reverence rooted in moral, spiritual, cultural, or historical importance
The community continues to venerate the teacher who preserved its banned language.
| everyday | |
|---|---|
| formal | |
| literary |
everyday
Fits when respect is shown through a ceremony, action, or faithful remembrance
Careful Honor covers ordinary respect; venerate calls for deep reverence.
everyday
Fits when dignity or earned regard should be stated without grandeur
Careful Ordinary respect is much less intense than veneration.
formal
Fits when high regard rests on character or achievement
Careful Esteem remains measured and social, while venerate approaches reverence.
formal
worship
Fits when religious devotion is literally intended
Careful Worship is stronger and often theological; it is wrong for admired teachers or artists.
literary
Fits when profound respect includes awe or devotion
Careful Revere is nearly equivalent but can sound more explicitly spiritual.
venerate an ancestor
Families gather each spring to venerate an ancestor who founded the school.
venerate a tradition
They venerate the tradition while allowing each generation to question it.
widely venerate
Residents widely venerate the physician for decades of rural service.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: EncycloPetey, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated
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