Meaning of promise in English

promise

verb

/ˈprɒm.ɪs/ us

/ˈprɑː.mɪs/

promise verb (SAY CERTAINLY)

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B1 [ I or T ]

to tell someone that you will certainly do something:

[ + to infinitive ] He promised faithfully to call me every week.

[ + that ] The government have promised that they'll reduce taxes.

[ + (that) ] Promise me (that) you won't tell him.

I'll look for some while I'm at the shops but I'm not promising anything.

Can I have that book back when you've finished because I've promised it (= I have said I will give it) to Sara.

[ + two objects ] Her parents promised her a new car if she passed her exams.

I've promised myself a long bath when I get through all this work.

[ + speech ] "I'll come round and see you every day," she promised.

"I won't do anything dangerous." "You promise?" "I promise."

"I won't have time to take you shopping this afternoon." "But you promised!"

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to promise someone something

promiseI promise that I'll be home before dark.
guaranteeI can't guarantee that the operation will be successful.
give (someone) your wordHe gave me his word that the job would be finished on time.
assure"Don't worry, your car will be ready tomorrow", the mechanic assured him.
swearI didn't know what happened, I swear.
pledgeWe are asking people to pledge their support for our campaign.

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More examplesFewer examples

"But listen, you must promise never to tell anyone." "I promise."
You have to stand up in court and promise to tell 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'.
I gave him my number and he promised to call me.
I promised the babysitter that we'd be home by midnight.
She's been promising to pay back the money for six months, but I reckon she's just stringing me along.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Making & breaking promises & commitments

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promise verb (BE EXPECTED)

promise to be good, exciting, etc.

If something promises to be good, exciting, etc. it is expected to be good, exciting, etc.:

It promises to be a really exciting game.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Planning, expecting and arranging

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Grammar

Promise

Promise is a noun and a verb. …

Idiom

promise someone the earth/moon

promise

noun

/ˈprɒm.ɪs/ us

/ˈprɑː.mɪs/

promise noun (SAY CERTAINLY)

B1 [ C ]

the act of saying that you will certainly do something:

I'll put my things away tonight - and that's a promise!

I'll try to get back in time, but I'm not making any promises.

keep/break a promise

to do/not do what you said that you would do:

If I make a promise, I like to keep it.

Synonyms

assurance (PROMISE)
bond  (PROMISE)
commitment
guarantee 
oath (PROMISE)
pledge 
undertaking (PROMISE) formal
vow 
word  (PROMISE)

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She felt encouraged by their promise of support.
I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it.
Voters are bound to be mistrustful of a government that has broken so many promises.
The prime minister may now be regretting her impetuous promise to reduce unemployment by half.
The company has not kept faith with its promise to invest in training.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Making & breaking promises & commitments

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promise noun (EXPECTED)

[ U ]

the idea that someone or something is likely to develop successfully and that people expect this to happen:

His English teacher had written on his report that he showed great promise.

As a child I was quite a good dancer, but I didn't fulfil my early promise.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Potential

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Grammar

Promise

Promise is a noun and a verb. …

Idiom

promises, promises!

(Definition of promise from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

promise | American Dictionary

promise

verb

/ˈprɑm·ɪs/

promise verb (STATE CONFIDENTLY)

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[ I/T ]

to state to someone that you will certainly do something:

[ T ] We promised the kids (that) we’d take them to the zoo.

[ + to infinitive ] She promised to be careful.

promise verb (HAVE LIKELY SUCCESS)

to seem likely:

[ + to infinitive ] The new movie promises to be one of the biggest money-makers of all time.

promise

noun

/ˈprɑm·ɪs/

promise noun (LIKELY SUCCESS)

[ U ]

the likelihood of success or achievement:

She shows great promise as a fiction writer.

promise noun (CONFIDENT STATEMENT)

[ C ]

a statement that you will certainly do something:

I’ll try to get back in time, but I’m not making any promises.

He broke his promise to (= said he would but did not) give his art collection to the county museum.

(Definition of promise from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of promise

promise

Instead, it exhilarates them with illusions and promises, which can intoxicate but cannot produce results.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He immediately gave himself up and promised to name his accomplices and own up to all his crimes if pardoned.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Patterns of butterfly diversity and promising topics in natural history and ecology.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The analogy suggests that speculation makes a claim, promises something to the community, while contributing nothing at all to other scientists.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Both the process of legislative bargaining and its nation-building object promised to slowly forge a nonzero sum game out of economic rivalry.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The most recent systematic review (4), carried out by an orthopedist, supports these (very promising) findings.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Agencies need to match users' expectations by producing what they have promised.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We suggest that considerations of host sociality and intraspecific interactions represent promising lines of inquiry.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, since it cannot make any metaphysical promises to its adherents, one would expect that not everybody is "born" to live it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Now it promised to become a tool for fractionating the cytoplasm of normal cells.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, this does not mean the novel endorses the manuals' promises.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I indicate how it promises to help alleviate some difficulties facing modern practical ethics.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The difficulty, therefore, is that an inability to access the economic welfare and security that social citizenship promises inhibits any prospect of real inclusion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A usurper is climbing the steps to the throne, and he promises changes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

To some the year 1918 promised defeat ; certainly there seemed little prospect of the war's end.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with promise

promise

These are words often used in combination with promise.

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breach of promise

The central concept is breach of promise in marriage or marriage situations - and all the subsidary information leads into that.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

broken promise

On the other hand, the fault for a broken promise may lie with some unforeseen event beyond the promiser's control.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

campaign promise

He made a campaign promise to work to abolish the office for which he was running.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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What is the pronunciation of promise?

Translations of promise

in Chinese (Traditional)

肯定地說, 允諾，答應, 保證…

Meaning of promise in English

promise verb (SAY CERTAINLY)

promise verb (BE EXPECTED)

Grammar

Idiom

promise noun (SAY CERTAINLY)

promise noun (EXPECTED)

Grammar

Idiom

promise | American Dictionary

promise verb (STATE CONFIDENTLY)

promise verb (HAVE LIKELY SUCCESS)

promise noun (LIKELY SUCCESS)

promise noun (CONFIDENT STATEMENT)

Examples of promise

Collocations with promise

promise

Translations of promise

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