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approve

verb

Simple meaning

To regard as good.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhproov

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əpˈɹuv

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of.

  2. transitive

    To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.

  3. Give sanction to

    “I approve of his educational policies.”

  4. intransitivefollowed by "of"

    To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of.

Used this way, approve is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use approve

  • “I approve of his educational policies.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

entirely approve

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • approvingnounInflected form

    The formal act of approving.

  • approvernounInflected form

    An authority with power to approve.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • approvalnounDerived noun

    The formal act of approving.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: to regard as good

disapprove

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.