appreciate

UK: /əˈpriːʃieɪt/ US: /əˈpriʃiˌeɪt/ ,(ə prē′shē āt′)

Inflections of 'appreciate' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

appreciates

v 3rd person singular

appreciating

v pres p

appreciated

v past

appreciated

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ap•pre•ci•ate /əˈpriʃiˌeɪt/   v., -at•ed, -at•ing. 

1. to be grateful or thankful for:
   [~ + object] I appreciate your help.
2. to value or regard highly:
   [~ + object] They appreciate good food.
3. to be fully conscious of;
   be aware of;
   understand fully: [~ + object]
   She appreciates the dangers of the situation.
   [~ + that clause]
   I certainly can appreciate that the situation is difficult.
4. to increase in value:
   [no object] The property appreciated rapidly.

See -preci-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ap•pre•ci•ate  (ə prē′shē āt′), v., -at•ed, -at•ing. 

1. to be grateful or thankful for:
   They appreciated his thoughtfulness.

v.t. 

2. to value or regard highly;
   place a high estimate on:
   to appreciate good wine.
3. to be fully conscious of;
   be aware of;
   detect:
   to appreciate the dangers of a situation.
4. to raise in value.

v.i. 

5. to increase in value:
   Property values appreciated yearly.

• Medieval Latin appreciātus valued, appraised, Late Latin appretiātus (past participle of appretiāre) appraised, equivalent. to Latin ap- ap-¹ + preti(um) price + -ātus -ate¹
• 1645–55

ap•pre′ci•at′ing•ly, adv. 
ap•pre′ci•a′tor, n. 
Synonyms

• 2. Appreciate, esteem, prize, value imply holding something in high regard.
  To appreciate is to exercise wise judgment, delicate perception, and keen insight in realizing the worth of something.
  To esteem is to feel respect combined with a warm, kindly feeling.
  To value is to attach importance to a thing because of its worth (material or otherwise).
  To prize is to value highly and cherish.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

appreciate / əˈpriːʃɪˌeɪt -sɪ-/ verb (mainly tr)

1. to feel thankful or grateful for
2. (may take a clause as object) to take full or sufficient account of: to appreciate a problem
3. to value highly
4. (usually intr) to raise or increase in value

Etymology: 17th Century: from Medieval Latin appretiāre to value, prize, from Latin pretium price

apˈpreciˌator noun