APPRECIATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does appreciation mean? 

• APPRECIATION (noun)
  The noun APPRECIATION has 5 senses:

1. understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something

2. delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values)

3. an expression of gratitude

4. a favorable judgment

5. an increase in price or value

  Familiarity information: APPRECIATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPRECIATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

appreciation; grasp; hold

Context example:

he has a good grasp of accounting practices

Hypernyms ("appreciation" is a kind of...):

apprehension; discernment; savvy; understanding (the cognitive condition of someone who understands)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appreciation"):

sense (a natural appreciation or ability)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

appreciation; discernment; perceptiveness; taste

Context example:

to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in bad taste

Hypernyms ("appreciation" is a kind of...):

discrimination; secernment (the cognitive process whereby two or more stimuli are distinguished)

Attribute:

tasteful (having or showing or conforming to good taste)

tasteless (lacking aesthetic or social taste)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appreciation"):

connoisseurship; vertu; virtu (love of or taste for fine objects of art)

style; trend; vogue (the popular taste at a given time)

delicacy; discretion (refined taste; tact)

culture (the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An expression of gratitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

he expressed his appreciation in a short note

Hypernyms ("appreciation" is a kind of...):

thanks (an acknowledgment of appreciation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A favorable judgment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

admiration; appreciation

Context example:

a small token in admiration of your works

Hypernyms ("appreciation" is a kind of...):

approval; approving; blessing (the formal act of approving)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appreciation"):

adoration; idolisation; idolization (the act of admiring strongly)

glorification; idealisation; idealization (a portrayal of something as ideal)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An increase in price or value

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

an appreciation of 30% in the value of real estate

Hypernyms ("appreciation" is a kind of...):

increase; step-up (the act of increasing something)

Antonym:

depreciation (a decrease in price or value)

 Context examples 

He was moved deeply by appreciation of it, and his heart was melting with sympathetic tenderness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This same full moon of March 9 could bring a creative project to fruition, one that you would be proud to show and that would likely generate international appreciation.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He handled the sack lovingly, and with due appreciation of its preciousness carried it out to his sled.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Her appreciation of the ridiculous was keen, and in all things she unerringly saw and felt, where it existed, the touch of sham, the overshading, the overtone.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

As he piled wood on the fire he discovered an appreciation of his own body which he had never felt before.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Dr. Illingworth began his remarks by expressing his high appreciation of the scientific work both of Professor Challenger and of Professor Summerlee.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a magnificent sight to any one who had not lost his sense of appreciation of the noblest of all the works of Nature.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We all took some, but our appreciation of it was gone, and we merely made a show of eating it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Abnormal appreciation of the taste of foodstuffs, can be related to decreased sense of smell.

(Dysgeusia, NCI Thesaurus)

Holmes smiled his appreciation.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)