veneration
Americannoun
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the act of venerating.
-
the state of being venerated.
-
the feeling of a person who venerates; a feeling of awe, respect, etc.; reverence.
They were filled with veneration for their priests.
- Antonyms:
- disrespect
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an expression of this feeling.
A memorial was erected in veneration of the dead of both world wars.
noun
-
a feeling or expression of awe or reverence
-
the act of venerating or the state of being venerated
Related Words
See respect.
Other Word Forms
- unvenerative adjective
- venerational adjective
- venerative adjective
- veneratively adverb
- venerativeness noun
Etymology
Origin of veneration
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin venerātiōn- (stem of venerātiō ), equivalent to venerāt ( us ) ( venerate ) + -iōn- -ion
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.
Ms. Gage, who teaches American history at Yale, presents the book as an attempt, timed for the semiquincentennial, to improve the contemporary “national historical dialogue, which tends to emphasize veneration or damnation over real understanding.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Viewers want stars to regurgitate their notable dialogue or react in shock or veneration for the viral sounds, but that’s not what they’re being paid to do.
From Salon • Jul. 25, 2025
Much of the supply comes from Hindu temples in the south of the country where hair is shaved off in an act of veneration and faith.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2025
You write this in your new book, Memory and Authority: “A distinctive feature of American constitutional culture is its quasi-religious veneration of its framers and founders.”
From Slate • May 8, 2024
The Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights and the Bill of Rights, are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
