The antonym of--- 'Desplse' - is.

The word 'despise' means to strongly dislike or have contempt for someone or something. Now, if we are looking for an antonym, we need to find a word that means the opposite of despise. Among the given choices, 'admire' is the correct answer because it means to have high regard or respect for someone or something. So, while 'despise' and 'admire' have opposite meanings, the other options ('criticize', 'applaud', 'deride') do not convey the opposite meaning of 'despise'. Therefore, the correct answer is 'admire' as it stands in contrast to 'despise'.