promise

Syllables: prom·iseUK/ˈpɹɒmɪs//ˈpɹɑmɪs/

promise noun: an oath or affirmation; a vow.

Noun

promise (countable and uncountable, plural promises)

(countable) An oath or affirmation; a vow.
- When I make a promise, I always stick to it.
- I asked him not to, and we all heard his promise that he wouldn't.
(countable) A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to their use.
- He purſued Andrew Houſtoun upon his promiſe, to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in abſence obtained him to be holden as confeſt and Decerned.1668 July 3rd, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
(countable) Something promised.
- That jewelry was a promise to me.
(uncountable) Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
- His grade are poor, but I see promise in him.
- Your claim has little promise in court.
(countable) A placeholder object representing the eventual result of an asynchronous operation.
- You can often use observables instead of promises to deliver values asynchronously.2023 August 25, “Observables compared to other techniques”, in Angular 17 documentation, Google
(countable, obsolete) Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.
- It is time they receive their promise.
- He […] commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 1:4

Verb

promise (third-person singular simple present promises, present participle promising, simple past and past participle promised)

(ambitransitive, ditransitive) To commit to (some action or outcome), or to assure (a person) of such commitment; to make an oath or vow.
- "You think that I'll take anything."
  "I know you will, sweet." …
  "There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."
  "Well, there is now," she said sweetly.1936 Aug., Ernest Hemingway, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber", Cosmopolitan
- Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising...2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70
(ambitransitive) To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
- The clouds promise rain.
- I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Promise

Promise

A female given name from English.

promise meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

promise in Hindi

vow: वचन vacan, शपथ śapath, वादा vādā, सौगन्द saugand, प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā, प्रण praṇ
to commit to something: वचन देना vacan denā, प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā

promise in Tamil

வாக்குறுதி, வாக்கு, சத்தியம், உறுதி, உறுதிமொழி, வாக்கு கொடு

promise in Marathi

promise, word, assurance, vow: वचन vacan
promise, agreement, engagement: प्रतिज्ञा pratidnyā
promise, agreement: वायदा vāydā

promise in Urdu

vow: وَعْدَہ va'da

More languagesFewer languages

promise in Bengali: অঙ্গীকার oṅgikar, প্রতিশ্রুতি protisruti
promise in Telugu: ఒట్టు oṭṭu
promise in Malayalam: വാക്ക് vākkŭ, പ്രതിജ്ഞ pratijña, ഉറപ്പ് uṟappŭ
promise in Kannada: ಭಾಷೆ bhāṣe, ಮಾತು mātu, ನುಡಿ nuḍi, ಭರವಸೆ bharavase
promise in Punjabi: وعدہ vaʻdah, ਇਕਰਾਰ ikarār, ਵਾਇਦਾ vāidā, سونہہ sauṉh
promise in Gujarati: પાળવું pāḷvũ, ટેક ṭek
promise in Odia: ବଚନ bacana, କଥା kathā
promise in Sanskrit: प्रतिज्ञा pratijñā, शपथ śapatha, वचन vacana, व्रत vrata
promise in Sinhala: පොරොන්දුව poronduwa
promise in Assamese: কচম kosom, কথা kotha
promise in Nepali: वचन vacan, वाचा गर्नु baca garnu
promise in Pashto: واده wāda, وعده wa'da, ژمنه žmᶕna
promise in Tagalog: pangako, mangako
promise in Arabic: وَعْد waʕd, وَعْدَة waʕda, وَعَدَ waʕada, تَعَهَّدَ taʕahhada
promise in Malay: janji, berjanji
promise in Indonesian: berjanji, menjanjikan
promise in Persian: قول دادن qowl dâdan, وعده دادن va'de dâdan
promise in Thai: สัญญา sǎn-yaa, ให้สัญญา hâi-sǎn-yaa
promise in Vietnamese: lời hứa, hứa
promise in Myanmar: ကတိ ka.ti., ခံဝန်ချက် hkam-wanhkyak, ဝန်ခံ wanhkam, အာမခံ ama.hkam

Examples of promise in a sentence

He broke his promise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.
She shows great promise as an actress.
If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you have this cake for free.
She promised to never return to this town again.
He promised me a big kiss if I would drive him to the airport.
I can't promise success, but I'll do the best I can.

All 40 example sentences with promise

Synonyms of promise

stipulate

Forms of promise

Noun
plural	promises
alternative form (obsolete)	promyse
Verb
third-person singular present	promises
present participle	promising
past participle	promised
past	promised

Past tense of promise: promised

Plural of promise: promises

Origin of promise

From Middle English promis, promisse, borrowed from Old French promesse, from Medieval Latin prōmissa, Latin prōmissum (“a promise”), feminine and neuter past participles of prōmittō (“to send forth, to say beforehand, to promise”), from pro (“forth”) + mittere (“to send”); see mission. Compare admit, commit, permit, etc. Displaced native ġehātan (“to promise”) and ġehāt (“a promise”).

Words formed from promise

Phrases with promise

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

breaking one's promise

Questions about promise

What does promise mean?: Promise means an oath or affirmation; a vow.
What is promise in Hindi?: Promise in Hindi is वचन (vacan), शपथ (śapath), वादा (vādā). See Promise meaning in Hindi.
How do you use promise in a sentence?: He broke his promise: he said he'd return my jewellery, but never did.
What part of speech is promise?: Promise can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce promise?: Promise is pronounced /ˈpɹɒmɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of promise?: The plural of promise is promises.

Words near promise in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-promise.ogg.

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