extol

E1X8T1O1L1
UK/ɪkˈstəʊl/UK/ɪkˈstɒl/US/ɪkˈstoʊl/

verb

To praise; to make high.

UncommonScrabble 12

Meanings

verbextol (third-person singular simple present extols, present participle extolling, simple past and past participle extolled)

present singular third person extols · participle present extolling · participle past extolled · past extolled

  1. transitiveTo praise; to make high.

    Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 52:13
    5 more examples

    It not only congratulates the Pope, but panegyrizes his Holiness, extols the college of cardinals and the bishops of Italy, calls upon the ashes of the martyrs to rejoice, apostrophizes Peter and Paul, and pays many fine compliments to happy Britain, although dissentient from the Romish faith;—it then reverts, in conclusion, to the Pope, and ends with intreating his blessing and assuring him of the prayers of his Irish congratulators.

    1814 October 28, “Proceedings of Irish Roman Catholics”, in William Haweis Cooper, editor, The Protestant Advocate, Irish Missionary Magazine and Christian Watchman, volume III, London: Houlston and Stoneman, […]; Dublin: P. D. Hardy & Sons, pages 1–2

    Men like Stuart who had no desire to extol Coleridge's virtues, and other witnesses quite as hostile, to whom a moral dereliction could hardly be a mortal offence, were loud in praise of the purity of his walk in life.

    1887, Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine, Sir Hall Caine, John Parker Anderson, Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, page 136

    Extol thee—could I—then I will / By saying nothing new, / But just the tritest truth / That thou art heavenly.

    a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “(please specify the chapter or poem)”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd and M[illicent] T[odd] Bingham, editors, Bolts of Melody, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, published 1945, page 173

    Maimonides, the 12th century scholar, rabbi and physician also extolled the health benefits of wine in moderation.

    2022 January 22, Jonathan Reiner, “If you think that glass of wine is good for you, it’s time to reconsider”, in CNN

    In the meantime, I have an opportunity of extolling the virtues of his Liverpool & Manchester Railway Atlas, which appeared last year and has already had its second print-run.

    2022 February 23, Barry Doe, “Liverpool & Manchester Atlas is excellent value”, in RAIL, number 951, page 60

    Synonyms: belaud, flatter, aggrandize, applaud, enthrone, appraise, belaud, bepraise

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

verbpraise, glorify, or honor

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinextollō“elevate, raise high”
  2. Englishextol

Borrowed from Latin extollō (“elevate, raise high”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian възхвалявам
  • възхвалявам (văzhvaljavam)to praise; to make high
Chinese Mandarin 頌揚 /颂扬
  • 頌揚 /颂扬 (sòngyáng)to praise; to make high
Czech vychvalovat, opěvovat
  • vychvalovatto praise; to make high
  • opěvovatto praise; to make high
  • velebitto praise; to make high
Dutch prijzen, ophemelen
  • prijzento praise; to make high
  • ophemelento praise; to make high
  • verheffento praise; to make high
Finnish ylistää
  • ylistääto praise; to make high
French louer, faire l'éloge de
  • louerto praise; to make high
  • faire l'éloge deto praise; to make high
German preisen
  • preisento praise; to make high
Hebrew שיבח הילל
  • שיבח הילל (shibeakh)to praise; to make high
Irish adhmhol, ardaigh
  • adhmholto praise; to make high
  • ardaighto praise; to make high
Italian lodare
  • lodareto praise; to make high
Japanese 褒めそやす
  • 褒めそやす (homesoyasu)to praise; to make high
Latin extollō
  • extollōto praise; to make high
Lithuanian šlovinti
  • šlovintito praise; to make high
Māori whakarangaranga, whakahirahira
  • whakarangarangato praise; to make high
  • whakahirahirato praise; to make high
Norwegian Bokmål prise
  • priseto praise; to make high
Polish wychwalać, wychwalić
  • wychwalaćto praise; to make high
  • wychwalićto praise; to make high
Portuguese elogiar, enaltecer
  • elogiarto praise; to make high
  • enaltecerto praise; to make high
Romanian lăuda, elogia
  • lăudato praise; to make high
  • elogiato praise; to make high
Russian восхваля́ть, восхвали́ть
  • восхваля́ть (vosxvaljátʹ)to praise; to make high
  • восхвали́ть (vosxvalítʹ)to praise; to make high
  • превозноси́ть (prevoznosítʹ)to praise; to make high
  • превознести́ (prevoznestí)to praise; to make high
Spanish alabar, elogiar
  • alabarto praise; to make high
  • elogiarto praise; to make high
  • loarto praise; to make high
  • enaltecerto praise; to make high
  • ensalzarto praise; to make high
  • entronizarto praise; to make high
Swedish höja till skyarna, lovprisa
  • höja till skyarnato praise; to make high
  • lovprisato praise; to make high
  • prisato praise; to make high
Turkish yüceltmek
  • yüceltmekto praise; to make high
Zulu -bonga, -dumisa
  • -bongato praise; to make high
  • -dumisato praise; to make high

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with extol

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

extol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extol

MLA

“extol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extol. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extol,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extol.

Source: extol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.