espoused

Espoused is the past tense and past participle of the verb espouse. It has two main senses in modern English. First, to espouse something means to adopt, advocate, or support a belief, cause, or policy. For example, a politician may espouse environmental reform, or a philosopher may espouse a particular theory. Second, in historical or formal contexts, espouse can also mean to marry or be wedded to someone; this sense is now typically archaic or literary in contemporary usage. The noun espousal refers to the act of betrothal or to the act of adopting or endorsing a position.

In organizational and social discourse, espoused values are the beliefs a person or organization says it upholds, which may or may not be reflected in actual practice. The related term espoused theory distinguishes what a person says they believe from the actual theories-in-use that govern behavior, a distinction used in organizational learning literature. This reflects a broader caution in evaluative writing: what is espoused may differ from behavior or practice.

Espoused is a formal term often found in policy discussions, academic writing, and historical texts. It tends to be less common in casual speech, where more everyday synonyms like advocate, support, or embrace are frequently used. The word carries a sense of commitment or public endorsement, and it can function as both a verb and an adjective, as in “espoused values” or “the espoused position.”