dictate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
dictates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dictated,
past participle, past
-
dictating
present participle
-
to say or read (something) aloud for another person to transcribe or for a machine to record.
to dictate some letters to a secretary.
-
to prescribe or lay down authoritatively or peremptorily; command unconditionally.
to dictate peace terms to a conquered enemy.
verb (used without object)
-
dictates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dictated,
past participle, past
-
dictating
present participle
-
to say or read aloud something to be written down by a person or recorded by a machine.
-
to give orders.
noun
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dictates
plural
-
an authoritative order or command.
-
a guiding or governing principle, requirement, etc..
to follow the dictates of one's conscience.
- Synonyms:
- bidding
verb
-
to say (messages, letters, speeches, etc) aloud for mechanical recording or verbatim transcription by another person
-
(tr) to prescribe (commands) authoritatively
-
(intr) to act in a tyrannical manner; seek to impose one's will on others
noun
-
an authoritative command
-
a guiding principle or rule
the dictates of reason
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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redictateverb
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predictateverb (used with object)
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misdictatedadjective
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undictatedadjective
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dictatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dictatesimple
-
dictatessimple
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have dictatedperfect
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has dictatedperfect
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am dictatingprogressive
-
are dictatingprogressive
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is dictatingprogressive
-
have been dictatingperfect progressive
-
has been dictatingperfect progressive
Past
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dictatedsimple
-
had dictatedperfect
-
was dictatingprogressive
-
were dictatingprogressive
-
had been dictatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dictate
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin dictātus “said repeatedly,” past participle of dictāre “to say repeatedly, order, prescribe,” from dīcere “to say, speak, tell”
Explanation
When you dictate something, you are giving orders — acting a bit like a dictator. Dictate can also be used in a broader sense. Weather often dictates how many layers of clothes you wear, and the school rules dictate how you behave in and out of class. In a very different meaning, dictate means to say something out loud to a person or into a machine so it can be recorded. Up until fairly recently, bosses dictated letters and reports to secretaries who wrote them down.
Vocabulary lists containing dictate
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon — which together are worth nearly $11 trillion — would likely dictate the market’s direction, he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
Others had parents who wanted to dictate their romantic lives.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
The payments began while Hines was working to finalize the Genius Act—legislation that would dictate Tether’s ability to operate in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
I don’t want to let words dictate my next emotions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
An additional factor that can dictate how compulsively we use our devices has to do with individual personality and predilection.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The 9th Circuit judges in Friday’s opinion said that “this clause expressly dictates which sovereign has the authority to prescribe the manner in which congressional elections are conducted.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
However, she acknowledged, “the reality is the White House is the one that dictates enforcement.”
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
The agreement dictates that any conflict between the company and the United States must be settled under U.S. law, not Venezuela’s.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
Social Security’s full retirement age dictates when beneficiaries get 100% of what they’re owed in benefits, but the current rule has become outdated now that many Americans are living longer, experts said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
It is only September and it is still hot in Paintbrush Falls, even if we are pretty far north, but Killer Man has decided, I guess, that the season dictates gray flannel.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
“They instead receive lesser amounts dictated by the remaining Executor, who uses this power to deter them from checking his abuses,” Paris’ petition alleges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Musk has run both Tesla and SpaceX concurrently over the past two decades, using a schedule that dictated which days he spent focused on each business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
But although the one-liners were flying, the show got very serious at the end, when the game's new twist dictated that Grant and Jama had to select their third traitor.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
This is often because studios themselves dictated the stories and angles being written about.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
But scientific method was Thyon’s religion, and it dictated the repeat of experiments—even of failures.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Conversations with others is one thing, and watching movies without headphones is forbidden, but dictating out loud when she could type is an irritating loophole.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
"There's no magic line" dictating what defines a nation, he told AFP, but noted Alberta's case for nationhood appears harder to make than that of other groups, like Catalans, Scots and French-speaking Canadians in Quebec.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Unison said the breakthrough created a route towards a ballot of its membership, without the council dictating the union's recommendation or communications.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
California does not have a statewide mandate dictating how far a firearms retailer must be from a school or day care.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Within another few years he changed his mind and did enter business to sell phonographs—but for use as office dictating machines.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
