Espouses means to adopt, support, or advocate for a cause, belief, or position: She espouses progressive economic policies.
The word carries a sense of public commitment—you don't merely hold a view, you champion it.
An older meaning, to marry or betroth, survives mainly in formal or literary contexts.
1. advocates — champions, Contest winners, top performers; promotes (Advocates or elevates); supports (Sustains or reinforces); endorses (Gives public support to); defends · upholds · backs · advances · propagates · embraces · adopts · professes · proclaims · declares
2. marries — weds, Joins in matrimony; betroths (Pledges to wed); matrimony (Legal union of spouses); nuptials (Vows and rings); wedding · bride · groom · vows · altar · ceremony · union · conjugal · wedlock · engagement
Opposites
ADVOCACY/SUPPORTespouses ≠ opposes Acts in resistance; rejects · denounces · condemns · repudiates · renounces
MARITAL/UNIONespouses ≠ divorces Legal ends to marriages; deserts · abandons · forsakes · leaves · jilts
COMMITMENT/ALLEGIANCEespouses ≠ abandons Ceases to support; forsakes · deserts · relinquishes · drops · discards
Categories
embrace: hugs, cuddles, squeezes, holds, wraps; takes on: adopts, assumes, accepts, undertakes, shoulders
Family
espouse, espousal, espoused, espousing
- Familiarity
- Top 200,000
- Profile
- Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G