Basic Details
Word: Admirable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Deserving praise and respect.
Synonyms: praiseworthy, commendable, excellent, worthy
Antonyms: shameful, disgraceful, contemptible
How to Spell Admirable
Syllables: ad - mi - ra - ble
Tricky part: Admire drops its final e before able, so there is no admireable. The ending is -able, not -ible.
Watch out for: admireable, admirible, admirabel
Memory tip: When able arrives, the e of admire steps aside politely, which is rather admirable of it: admir + able.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Her honesty in returning the lost wallet was admirable.
Example 2: The team made an admirable effort, even though they lost by two runs.
Example 3: Dev's patience with his baby sister is admirable.
Fun Fact
Admiral is not related to admire. Admiral comes from the Arabic amir, a commander, while admire comes from Latin admirari, to wonder at.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word admirable as used in the sentence:
The way the firefighters stayed calm during the rescue was truly admirable.
a) shameful
b) commendable
c) praiseworthy
d) laudable
Show answer
a) shameful. Shameful behaviour deserves blame, not praise; the other three mean much the same as admirable.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
admireable
a) i
b) e
c) a
d) r
Show answer
b) e. The silent e of admire is dropped before the vowel of able, as in desirable.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. couragous 2. respectfull 3. admirable 4. honourible
a) deserving praise and respect
b) showing politeness and regard for others
c) brave and willing to face danger
d) honest and fair, and so worthy of honour
Show answer
a) deserving praise and respect. The ending decides it: admirable rightly drops the e of admire before -able, while the others slip on -ible, -full and a missing e.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The young nurse showed bdalimrae courage on her first night shift.
a) miserable
b) adorable
c) admiral
d) admirable
Show answer
d) admirable. Adorable describes something cute, not courage, and it needs an o; these letters spell admirable.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The most admirable act in this list is ____.
a) breaking a queue
b) helping an injured stranger
c) skipping a class
d) copying a friend's homework
Show answer
b) helping an injured stranger
2. An admirable effort is one that ____.
a) deserves praise
b) is against the rules
c) causes harm
d) nobody notices
Show answer
a) deserves praise
