Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

avow

[uh-vau] / əˈvaʊ /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

U.S. secretary of state John Quincy Adams, however, considered it “more candid as well as more dignified” for the new country “to avow our principles explicitly” than to allow the British to take the lead.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

"Instead of trashing volunteerism as inherently elitist, why not avow and attest to its ongoing value as a vital part of necessary diversification and cultural change?"

From Fox News ● Oct. 17, 2021

He seems able to avow that desire readily and frankly!

From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2021

When offered an easy way out — would he at least avow that he hated the Germans? — he declined the invitation and answered only that he loved the French.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2020

“I avow, Serjeant, we shall commit ourselves wholly to philosophy without a grain of intelligence intermixed.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

“You’re lovable and you’re worthy of love,” avows another.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2023

Nolan avows the not-uncommon belief that these innovations represent a death of cinema, that digital tools not only cheapen the product and the experience but threaten the very medium of film itself.

From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2020

The ability to turn back whether or not you’ve reached your destination “takes preparation over many passing years,” avows Guterson.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2019

It avows an anti-elitist attentiveness to the industrially humdrum.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2019

Mr. Hamond now avows himself a Free Trader.” 

From Norfolk Annals A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth Century, Vol. 2 by Charles Mackie

Anyway, if the debt should finally sink the public credit, Smith prescribed an open and avowed national bankruptcy rather than the treacherous debasement of the coin of the realm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Charli is an avowed film buff, whose fifth album was named after David Cronenberg's notorious body-horror film Crash.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Vance built his political brand as an avowed anti-interventionist who wanted to keep America out of any more foreign wars, like in Iraq where he served as a US Marine.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

As a cleric in his 20s, he encountered Khomeini, a charismatic religious leader and avowed opponent of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026

The Lyseni would gladly have taken him south with him, he avowed, but Davos had refused.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

She’s lost hundreds of dollars to scammers who have reached out on social media, avowing they knew the birds’ location and would share it for a price.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2023

Barron’s successor, Neeli Bendapudi, canceled the project in late October, avowing a commitment to equity and inclusion but saying it would be “more impactful” to enhance support for existing work on racial bias.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2023

One actor, while avowing his total support for the Fair Wage Onstage campaign, admitted that the conversation around it might be driving him out of the theatre.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 14, 2016

Mr Bickley dismisses that claim, avowing that he would prefer a more progressive tax system.

From Economist ● Oct. 2, 2014

Never under any circumstances did he shrink from performing what he considered to be Christian duty, or from avowing what he believed to be religious truth.

From The Legendary and Poetical Remains of John Roby author of 'Traditions of Lancashire', with a sketch of his literary life and character by John Roby


Vocabulary lists containing avow

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training