What does inspire mean?
Word: Inspire
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Inspire means to give someone the wish, energy or courage to do something, often by being a good example.
Synonyms: encourage, move
Antonyms: discourage
How do you spell inspire?
Syllables: in - spire
Tricky part: The end is spire with a silent e, not spier or spyre. The ire letters make the long i sound.
Watch out for: inspier, inspyre, insspire
Memory tip: Inspire ends just like fire and wire: picture a good idea catching fire in someone's mind.
Inspire in a sentence
Example 1: Kalpana Chawla's story inspires many girls to study science.
Example 2: The coach's speech inspired the team to try harder in the second half.
Example 3: Visiting the hills inspired Nikhil to paint a whole series of pictures.
Fun Fact
Inspire first meant to breathe in. Doctors still use the word inspiration for breathing air into the lungs.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) acheive
b) inspire
c) admier
d) sucess
Show answer
b) inspire. Achieve puts i before e, admire ends in ire and success needs two c's. Only inspire is already right.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The speeches of great leaders can enspire young people to serve their country.
a) speeches
b) leaders
c) enspire
d) country
Show answer
c) enspire. The word begins with in, not en.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
inspire
a) motivate
b) ignore
c) confuse
d) warn
Show answer
a) motivate. To motivate someone is to make them want to act, which is what inspire means.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these could inspire a young athlete to train harder?
a) being told that sport is a waste of time
b) watching an Olympic champion win gold
c) hearing that the big race is off
d) seeing the coach cancel every practice
Show answer
b) watching an Olympic champion win gold
2. Which sentence uses inspire correctly?
a) The guard inspired our bags at the gate of the museum.
b) My old library card inspired at the end of last month.
c) Her kindness to stray dogs inspired me to help at the shelter.
d) She inspired the coin into the slot of the machine.
Show answer
c) Her kindness to stray dogs inspired me to help at the shelter.
