LAUD is a very positive word that means to enthusiastically praise, honor, and acclaim someone or something. You are familiar seeing it as a part of the word
appLAUD.
SAT test writers frequently use positive words like LAUD and HONOR to praise the achievements of Nobel Prize winners, feminist pioneers, and leading advocates of human rights. For example, a recent vocabulary in context question LAUDED Nelson Mandela as a champion of freedom who waged a lifelong battle against South Africa’s unjust system of racial apartheid.
LAUD – to enthusiastically praise someone or something; acclaim