approbate

verb

ˈa-prə-ˌbāt How to pronounce approbate (audio)
Definition of approbatenext
as in to approve
to give official acceptance of as satisfactory Congress must approbate the President's nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for approbate
  1. approve
  2. ratify
Verb
  • The allegations come after the California Department of Human Resources sent a notice in February 2022 outlining that departments cannot approve employee requests to regularly work from out-of-state locations.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The consent agenda is intended to approve items with broad or unanimous agreement.
    — Mary Ramsey, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of approve
Verb
  • Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum in New York ratified its second contract Sunday night, hours ahead a strike deadline, narrowly heading off a disruption to the opening of a forthcoming Roy Lichtenstein retrospective.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Spain’s government on Friday lost two key votes to ratify a package of emergency measures aimed at tackling the nation’s housing affordability crisis, while protesters marched on the parliament demanding help for renters.
    — Joseph Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of ratify
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.

Browse Nearby Words

approaching
approbate
approbated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Approbate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/approbate. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All