Word.ws English Dictionary

approves

/əˈpɹuːvz/

approves is the third-person singular simple present indicative of approve.

Meaning of approve

Verb (1)

approve (third-person singular simple present approves, present participle approving, simple past and past participle approved)

  1. (transitive) To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as satisfactory.
    • Although we may disagree with it, we must nevertheless approve the sentence handed down by the court-martial.
  2. (transitive) To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of.
    • We approve the measure of the administration, for it is an excellent decision.
  3. (archaic, transitive) To make proof of; to demonstrate; to prove or show practically.
    • He had long burned with impatience to approve his valour.1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section III
  4. (intransitive) To consider worthy (to); to be pleased (with); to accept.
    • Her mother never approves of any of her boyfriends. She thinks nobody is good enough for her little girl.
    Synonyms:
    cheer
  5. (archaic, transitive, usually) To show to be worthy; to demonstrate the merits of.
    • The first care and concern must be to approve himself to God.a. 1729, John Rogers, The Duty and Advantageous of Trust in God

Verb (2)

approve (third-person singular simple present approves, present participle approving, simple past and past participle approved)

  1. (English, transitive) To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit — said especially of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor.

Words that rhyme with approves

Questions about approves

What is approves the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Approves is the third-person singular simple present indicative of approve.
How do you pronounce approves?
Approves is pronounced /əˈpɹuːvz/.

Words near approves in the dictionary

  1. approvement
  2. approvements
  3. approven
  4. approver
  5. approvers
  6. approves
  7. approvest
  8. approveth
  9. approving
  10. approvingly
  11. approvision

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: approves (page history and authors); approve (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “approves.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/approves. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.