Synonyms

endorse

American

[en-dawrs] / ɛnˈdɔrs /

verb (used with object)

to approve, support, or sustain.

to endorse a political candidate.

Synonyms:

second, back, sustain, uphold, ratify, sanction
to designate oneself as payee of (a check) by signing, usually on the reverse side of the instrument.
to sign one's name on (a commercial document or other instrument).
to make over (a stated amount) to another as payee by one's endorsement.
to write (something) on the back of a document, paper, etc..

to endorse instructions; to endorse one's signature.
to acknowledge (payment) by placing one's signature on a bill, draft, etc.

noun

Heraldry. a narrow pale, about one quarter the usual width and usually repeated several times.

endorse British

/ ɪnˈdɔːs /

verb

to give approval or sanction to
to sign (one's name) on the back of (a cheque, etc) to specify oneself as payee
commerce
1. to sign the back of (a negotiable document) to transfer ownership of the rights to a specified payee
2. to specify (a designated sum) as transferable to another as payee
to write (a qualifying comment, recommendation, etc) on the back of a document
to sign (a document), as when confirming receipt of payment
to record (a conviction) on (a driving licence)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of endorse

First recorded in 1350–1400; variant (with en- for in- ) of earlier indorse, from Medieval Latin indorsāre “to endorse,” equivalent to Latin in- in- ² + -dorsāre, derivative of dorsum “back”; replacing endoss, Middle English endossen, from Old French endosser, equivalent to en- en- ¹ + -dosser, derivative of dos, from Latin dorsum

Explanation

To endorse is to give support to someone or something. "I endorse this!" means "I think this is a good thing, and so should you." People endorse in many ways. When someone endorses a politician, it means "You should vote for this person, and I'm putting my reputation on the line to say so." When someone endorses a product in a commercial, it means "Go buy this! You'll like it." To endorse is to give support. You can also endorse a check, which means writing your name or someone else's on the back so that you or the other person can cash or deposit it.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

endorse endorses endorsed endorsing

When people get attached to their AI agents, they’re also more likely to follow their suggestions, which can lead to them spending more money on the services and products that agents endorse, Yim said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

Bass: There was no reason for me to seek an endorsement from an organization that I knew was not going to endorse me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Carney was asked Thursday about the prospect of Canada joining the EU and delivered what he termed a "non-answer," declining to rule out the idea or endorse it.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

"How does Sonia see her son's very different political style and worldview? And how much does she endorse his politics? I hope the book answers these questions," says Kidwai.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

To give voting rights to African Americans over women was to endorse what Stanton called the “aristocracy of sex.”

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

“If he endorses Karen Bass a lot of people will see him as a sellout. If he endorses Nithya, which I can’t see happening, people will say he’s just bitter at Karen Bass,” Klink said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the BBC: "Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible."

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

But he will still be able to stay in the spotlight by creating suspense over whom he endorses as his successor in 2028.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

It is lost on me how he could square those poetic words with the decision he endorses in Callais.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026

Even more extreme is the case where a celebrity endorses a diet or medicine or whatever, in which case we have a sample of one, and generally a paid sample at that.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Three years on, the party’s youth wing endorsed another such protest for this Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

So far in the 2026 cycle the organization has endorsed 178 renters — 37% of all of their endorsements.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

He noted that when Joe Biden quit the race, El-Sayed endorsed Harris the next day.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

His rallies have featured massive US flags and giant inflatable balloons of Trump, who has not endorsed the senator, but has said he is "very closely" watching the election.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

Nichols briefed the Joint Chiefs the next day, asserting that the entire scientific community endorsed the project.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Caruso said Tuesday he hadn’t given much thought to endorsing and said he was meeting with Raman soon to discuss her run.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

More than 1,000 AI researchers recently signed a statement endorsing such a move.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

On the other hand, as even the Globe editorial endorsing Moulton acknowledged, Markey still seems like “the picture of sharpness and vigor.”

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

A vaccine skeptic, Kennedy has shared mixed messaging on MMR vaccine, at times endorsing it and other times sharing unproven claims about its safety.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Fortunately for Jefferson, the leadership of the Kentucky legislature decided to delete the sections of his draft endorsing nullification, presumably because such open defiance of federal law seemed excessive and unnecessarily risky.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023