accept
[verb]
Synonyms:
- receive, acquire, gain, get, obtain, secure, take
- agree to, admit, approve, believe, concur with, consent to, cooperate with, recognize

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Antonyms: reject
Contrasted words: discountenance, disesteem, dislike, disrelish, disavow, disown, brush (aside), deny, reject, repudiate
Related Idioms: abide by, put up with
Related Words: fancy, like, relish, admire, esteem, acquiesce (in), agree (to or with), assent (to), subscribe (to), respect, bow, capitulate, yield

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English Thesaurus: believe, accept, take sb’s word for it, give somebody the benefit of the doubt, be taken in, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ac‧cept S1 W1 /əkˈsept/ verb
[Word Family: adjective: acceptable ≠ unacceptable, accepted; verb: accept; noun: acceptance; adverb: acceptably ≠ unacceptably]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: accepter, from Latin acceptare, from accipere 'to receive', from ad- 'to' + capere 'to take']

1. GIFT/OFFER/INVITATION [intransitive and transitive] to take something that someone offers you, or to agree to do something that someone asks you to do Antonym : refuse:
Rick accepted her offer of coffee.
He accepted the invitation to stay with us.
His school reports said that he is always ready to accept a challenge (=agree to do something difficult).
Please accept this small gift.
They offered me a job and I accepted.
accept something from somebody
He accepted a glass of water from Helen.
He readily accepted her invitation (=accepted it quickly).

REGISTER
In everyday English, when talking about accepting a job, accepting responsibility or blame, or accepting a method of payment, people usually use take:
■ They offered me the job and I accepted. ➔ They offered me the job and I took it.
When talking about accepting an offer, people often say take someone up on their offer:
He decided to take her up on her offer.

2. SITUATION/PROBLEM ETC [transitive] to decide that there is nothing you can do to change a difficult and unpleasant situation or fact and continue with your normal life:
He’s not going to change, and you just have to accept it.
accept that
We have to accept that this is not an ideal world.
You need to accept the fact that most of your problems are caused by jealousy.

3. THINK SOMEBODY/SOMETHING IS GOOD ENOUGH [transitive] to decide that someone has the necessary skill or intelligence for a particular job, course etc or that a piece of work is good enough Antonym : reject:
Students accepted by Stanford Law School had very high scores on the LSAT.
accept somebody/something as something
They have accepted him as the representative of the company.
accept somebody/something for something
Random House accepted the book for publication.

4. BECOME PART OF A GROUP [transitive] to allow someone to become part of a group, society, or organization, and to treat them in the same way as the other members Antonym : reject
accept somebody as something
The children gradually began to accept her as one of the family.
accept somebody into something
It often takes years for immigrants to be accepted into the host community.

5. AGREE TO TAKE/DEAL WITH SOMETHING [transitive] to agree to take or deal with something that someone gives you, or to say that it is suitable or good enough:
The government has accepted the resignation of a senior army commander.
Please accept my sincere apologies.
Sorry, we don’t accept traveller’s cheques.

6. SUGGESTION/ADVICE [transitive] to decide to do what someone suggests or advises you should do:
Be prepared to accept the advice of members of staff.

7. BELIEVE AN EXPLANATION/STATEMENT [transitive] to agree that what someone says is right or true Antonym : reject:
She has accepted your explanation as to why you didn’t attend the meeting.

8. accept responsibility/blame for something to admit that you were responsible for something bad that happened:
The University will not accept responsibility for items lost or stolen.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

accept
verb
I. take/receive
ADV. gladly, graciously, gratefully, willingly She graciously accepted my apology.
reluctantly
VERB + ACCEPT be glad to, be happy to | be reluctant to, be unwilling to | be unable to I am unfortunately unable to accept your kind invitation.
PREP. from I accepted the gift from my sister.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accept
II. agree/admit
ADV. readily Some people readily accept that they may have to pay for medical treatment.
fully
VERB + ACCEPT be happy to, be prepared to, be ready to, be willing to | be reluctant to, be unwilling to | be unable to, refuse to | can/cannot, could (not), will/won't, would (not) The university cannot accept responsibility for items lost or stolen on its premises.
be forced to
PHRASES be commonly/generally/universally/widely accepted It is generally accepted that people are motivated by success.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accept

accept an offer
In the end I had to accept his offer of £4,500.
accept an invitation
Are you going to accept their invitation to the wedding?
accept help
Don’t be afraid to accept help if you need it.
accept aid
Egypt gratefully accepted American economic aid.
accept assistance
They were ready to accept French military assistance.
accept a challenge
To protect the environment we must accept some difficult challenges.
accept an award
Miller accepted the award for best comedy show.
accept an opportunity
I wish that I’d accepted the opportunity to retire when it was offered.
accept a gift/present
Accepting presents from him made her feel uncomfortable.
accept a job
She was desperate for money so she accepted the job.
accept a lift British English, accept a ride American English
I had been taught not to accept lifts from strangers.
accept a bribe
The president’s family and friends accepted massive bribes in exchange for official favours.
gladly/willingly/readily accept
She invited him for a drink and he gladly accepted.
gratefully accept
He gratefully accepted Athena’s help.
graciously accept
She accepted her gift graciously.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accept
verb
1.
BAD: The company will not accept to buy new machines.
GOOD: The company will not agree to buy new machines.

Usage Note:
You accept someone's advice, opinion, or suggestion BUT you agree (= say you are willing) to do something. Compare: 'I accepted her suggestion and agreed to see the doctor that evening.'

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2.
BAD: The driver did not accept me to get on the bus.
GOOD: The driver did not allow me to get on the bus.
BAD: We can't accept a motorway to be built through our town.
GOOD: We can't allow a motorway to be built through our town.

Usage Note:
You allow/permit someone to do something, or let them do it: 'Many parents do not allow/permit their children to watch violent films.' 'Many parents do not let their children watch violent films.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

believe to be sure that something is true or that someone is telling the truth:
I believed her when she said that she loved me.
Don’t believe anything he tells you.
accept to believe that something is true, especially because someone has persuaded you to believe it:
His wife accepted his explanation for why he was late.
Leah had slowly come to accept her brother’s version of events.
take sb’s word for it especially spoken to believe what someone says is true, even though you have no proof or experience of it:
I don’t know anything about him, so I’ll just have to take your word for it.
You don’t have to take my word for it – go and see for yourself.
‘Cakes are very easy to make.’ ‘I’ll take your word for it.’
give somebody the benefit of the doubt to believe what someone says, even though you think it might not be true:
Unless you have proof, you should give him the benefit of the doubt.
be taken in (also fall for something informal) to be tricked into believing something that is not true:
A lot of people were taken in by these claims.
I can’t believe she fell for that old excuse!
swallow informal to believe a story or explanation that is not true, especially when this makes you seem silly:
His aunt had swallowed his story unquestioningly.
Police refused to swallow his story, and put him in a cell.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

tolerate verb [transitive] to accept unpleasant behaviour or an unpleasant situation, even though you do not like it:
We will not tolerate any kind of racism.
People tolerated corruption for years.
put up with something to accept unpleasant behaviour or an unpleasant situation even though you do not like it. Put up with is less formal than tolerate, and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
I don’t see how you can put up with the constant noise.
Many people put up with poor pay and working conditions because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
accept verb [transitive] to agree or deal with a situation you do not like but cannot change:
She found it hard to accept his death.
stand/bear verb [transitive, not in progressive] to accept or be forced to accept an unpleasant situation – used especially about things which cause you pain or make you feel upset. Bear is more formal than stand:
I don’t know how you’ve stood it for so long.
Maisie couldn’t bear the pain any longer.
How do you stand living in such a mess?
take verb [transitive] informal to accept an unpleasant situation or someone’s unpleasant behaviour without becoming upset:
She was shouting at him and he just stood there and took it.
I can’t take much more of this.
live with something to accept a bad situation as a permanent part of your life that you cannot change:
I’ve had back pain for many years and I’ve just learned to live with it.
The guilt I felt was very hard to live with.
endure verb [transitive] written to accept an unpleasant or difficult situation for a long time:
The victims of this war have endured tremendous pain and suffering.
The refugees endured cramped and filthy conditions.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲