inspires

verb

present tense third-person singular of inspire
1
as in encourages
to fill with courage or strength of purpose the rousing campaign speech inspired everyone to get out the vote

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in elicits
to draw out (something hidden, latent, or reserved) what inspired that comment?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in educates
to provide (someone) with moral or spiritual understanding great works of visual art can inspire us in ways that the written word often cannot

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inspires Science aside, the clean, crystalline water inspires an irresistible urge to dive right in. — Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 29 June 2026 Letting people lead and thrive in their skill set, while backing them behind the scenes, inspires people to do their best work. — Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 Mars and Uranus’ alignment inspires you to follow your passions, but be mindful of the risks involved! — Usa Today, USA Today, 4 July 2026 The sight and smell of the game-night mess understandably inspires widespread vomiting, too. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 26 June 2026 SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. — Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 26 June 2026 That being said, be sure to pay attention to what’s pushing your buttons, but also recognize what finally inspires you to charge ahead. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026 July 23 – August 22 Leo, your playful spark inspires teamwork now. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 27 June 2026 Nature inspires resilience The researchers compared the technology to the way humans naturally respond to injuries. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 2 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inspires
  1. encourages
  2. elicits
  3. educates
  4. evokes
Verb
  • Valentine also testified that the FDA encourages infant formula companies to send in all adverse event reports and that nothing prevented Mead Johnson from doing so.
    — David Hilzenrath, USA Today, 2 July 2026
  • Kalibrate’s program, according to the lawsuit, encourages gas stations to upload private price data.
    — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of encourages
Verb
  • That said, this is a piece that elicits a potent response from an audience, which certainly was the case at the Nederlander Theatre on Tuesday night.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026
  • At first the request elicits trademark Ramsayian profanity.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 24 June 2026
Definition of elicits
Verb
  • On the continent is an elite war college that educates healers, soldiers, scribes, and — most famously — dragon riders.
    — Janey Wetzel, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
  • Texas, which educates roughly 1 in 10 of the nation's public school students, has been at the forefront of a charge by conservatives to incorporate more religion into classrooms.
    — JAMIE STENGLE, Arkansas Online, 27 June 2026
Definition of educates
Verb
  • While its name evokes tranquil scenes of pastoral quietude, the Siesta Valley Bowl is getting set to make a big noise on the Bay Area music scene.
    — Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 2 July 2026
  • The constellation evokes the shape of a great Bald Eagle, which was adopted as a national emblem of the United States in 1782.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of evokes

Browse Nearby Words

inspirers
inspires
inspiring
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Inspires.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inspires. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on inspires

Nglish: Translation of inspires for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All