invent
Americanverb (used with object)
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to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance.
to invent the telegraph.
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to produce or create with the imagination.
to invent a story.
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to make up or fabricate (something fictitious or false).
to invent excuses.
- Synonyms:
- concoct
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Archaic. to come upon; find.
verb
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to create or devise (new ideas, machines, etc)
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to make up (falsehoods); fabricate
Synonym Usage
See discover.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inventableadjective
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inventibleadjective
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self-inventedadjective
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uninventedadjective
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well-inventedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inventsimple
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inventssimple
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have inventedperfect
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has inventedperfect
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am inventingprogressive
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are inventingprogressive
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is inventingprogressive
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have been inventingperfect progressive
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has been inventingperfect progressive
Past
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inventedsimple
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had inventedperfect
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was inventingprogressive
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were inventingprogressive
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had been inventingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invent
First recorded in 1425–75; back formation from late Middle English invented (past participle) “found, discovered,” from Latin invent(us) “encountered” (past participle of invenīre “to come upon, encounter, find,” from in- in- 2 + venīre “to come”; see also come) + -ed 2
Explanation
To invent is to create for the first time or make up. If you tell your friends that you invented the electric guitar, you are inventing a pretty unbelievable story about your past. When you think of the word invent, think of Thomas Alva Edison who invented the long-lasting light bulb, the motion picture camera, the phonograph, and the stock ticker. That's a lot of inventions! You couldn't invent a better story of American ingenuity, could you?
Vocabulary lists containing invent
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.
The announcement came amid Amazon’s AWS re: Invent event taking place in Las Vegas this week.
From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025
Invent a coordinate system where the ship’s bow—the single most important reference point in this Seussian landscape—serves as the axis around which everything else is oriented.
From Scientific American • May 27, 2022
With the help of his family, he created Invent the Summer, a website with engineering and invention challenges for children 14 and under.
From Washington Times • Jun. 26, 2019
The advertising campaign has been rolled out before AWS’ other main effort to advertise its wares: its annual conference, called re: Invent, held in Las Vegas.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2017
Invent some method of taking the tardy Courier over his road at the rate of sixty miles a minute.
From Stories by American Authors, Volume 5 by James, Henry
Definitions 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.
