INSPIRE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inspire mean? 

• INSPIRE (verb)
  The verb INSPIRE has 6 senses:

1. heighten or intensify

2. supply the inspiration for

3. serve as the inciting cause of

4. spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts

5. fill with revolutionary ideas

6. draw in (air)

  Familiarity information: INSPIRE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSPIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they inspire    ... he / she / it inspires   
Past simple: inspired   
Past participle: inspired   
-ing form: inspiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Heighten or intensify

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

animate; enliven; exalt; inspire; invigorate

Context example:

These paintings exalt the imagination

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inspire"):

encourage (inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to inspire Sue

Sense 2

Meaning:

Supply the inspiration for

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

The article about the artist inspired the exhibition of his recent work

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

occasion (give occasion to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

inspiration (arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Serve as the inciting cause of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

inspire; instigate; prompt

Context example:

She prompted me to call my relatives

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

cause; get; have; induce; make; stimulate (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They inspire him to write the letter

Sense 4

Meaning:

Spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

barrack; cheer; exhort; inspire; pep up; root on; urge; urge on

Context example:

The crowd cheered the demonstrating strikers

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

encourage (inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inspire"):

cheerlead (act as a cheerleader in a sports event)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They inspire him to write the letter

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fill with revolutionary ideas

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

inspire; revolutionise; revolutionize

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

indoctrinate (teach doctrines to; teach uncritically)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

inspirer (a leader who stimulates and excites people to action)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Draw in (air)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

breathe in; inhale; inspire

Context example:

The lung cancer patient cannot inspire air very well

Hypernyms (to "inspire" is one way to...):

breathe; respire; suspire; take a breath (draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inspire"):

aspirate (inhale (air, water, etc.))

sniff; sniffle (inhale audibly through the nose)

snivel; snuffle (snuff up mucus through the nose)

snuff (inhale (something) through the nose)

drag; draw; puff (suck in or take (air))

huff; snort (inhale recreational drugs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

inspiration (the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing)

inspiratory (pertaining to the drawing in phase of respiration)

 Context examples 

I cannot tell you the loathing and horror with which this insignificant-looking man inspired me.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And the high and lofty, heaven-inspired Transcontinental paid five dollars for five thousand words!

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Even if that doesn’t happen, you will be inspired and touched by the feelings transmitted by your partner.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Miss Bingley immediately fixed her eyes on his face, and desired he would tell her what lady had the credit of inspiring such reflections.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He looked almost like a man inspired, as he said it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In spite of the menacing hand, the voice inspired confidence.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

"My research was in a large part inspired by Vera Rubin's work in 1980 on the size of this galaxy," said Holwerda.

(Hubble Surveys Gigantic Galaxy, NASA)

The production of the new Triton map was inspired by anticipation of NASA's New Horizons encounter with Pluto, coming up a little under a year from now.

(Voyager Map Details Neptune's Strange Moon Triton, NASA)

The findings could also inspire a change in how scientists determine the possible effects of climate change on ecosystems.

(Dirt mounds made by termites in Africa, South America, Asia could prevent spread of deserts, NSF)