1
general::
admire
to like someone because they have achieved something special, or they have skills or qualities that you would like to have:
• I admire your courage. • She admired him for the way he dealt with the situation.
respect
to have a good opinion of someone, even if you do not agree with them, for example because they have achieved a lot or have high standards:
• She is respected by all her colleagues at the university. • She’s an actor who is not prepared to compromise, and her audience loves and respects her for that.
revere
formal to greatly admire someone because of their achievements and personal qualities, especially someone famous:
• Mandela is revered as one of the great leaders of our time.
look up to somebody
to admire someone who is older or who has more experience than you:
• All the young comedians look up to him.
think highly of somebody
to think that someone is good at what they do:
• His teachers seem to think very highly of him.
idolize
to admire someone so much that you think they are perfect – used especially about famous people or people in your family:
• He idolized his brother. • Jane grew up idolizing Princess Diana.
hero-worship
to admire someone a lot and want to be like them – often used when this seems unreasonable or extreme:
• She hero-worshipped John to such an extent that she was blind to his faults.
Longman-Thesaurus
3
general::
verb have high opinion of sb/sth ADV. deeply, enormously, greatly, hugely, particularly, really He admires you enormously. | rather | clearly, openly | secretly She secretly admired and envied him. VERB + ADMIRE have to You have to admire their dedication and commitment. PREP. about What do you most admire about her? | for I rather admire him for his determination. PHRASES be generally/widely admired He is widely admired as a journalist. | can't/couldn't help admiring/but admire I couldn't help but admire his determination. | you can only admire sb/sth You can only admire her courage and determination. look at sth attractive VERB + ADMIRE pause to, stop to | stand/step back to He stood back to admire his handiwork.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary