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Synonyms

sought

American  
[sawt] / sɔt /

verb

  1. simple past tense and past participle of seek.


sought British  
/ sɔːt /

verb

  1. the past tense and past participle of seek

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Explanation

I have long sought an answer to the following question: If sought is the past tense of seek, how come you say "we played hide and seek all afternoon" instead of "we hid and sought all afternoon?" Seek means to look for, and sought is what you say when you're done with the looking. "As a young man, I sought my fortune. Now it is time for me to sit by the fire, searching for the long-sought-after answer to the timeless question 'What did it all mean?'"

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Vocabulary lists containing sought

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.

Sought for their fluency in various African languages, content moderators hired by Sama in Kenya soon found themselves looking at graphic content that hit painfully close to home.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2023

Sought for comment, ICC courtspokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said: "The Court is an independent judicial institution, and does not comment on political statements".

From Reuters • Jun. 21, 2021

In 1989, the New York Times published an article titled, “Wider Door at Top Colleges Sought by Asian-Americans.”

From Slate • Nov. 2, 2018

Sought after, typically, by the technology, entertainment, media and other creative businesses that are gradually supplanting the defense giants that used to cluster near the airport.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2017

If Sir Isaac Newton only gathered "pebbles on the shore" of the limitless ocean of knowledge, we may well believe that ——"Wisdom is a pearl, with most success Sought in still water."

From The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion or, Familiar Letters to his Nephews by Lunettes, Henry