conduct

American  

[kon-duhkt, kuhn-duhkt] / ˈkɒn dʌkt, kənˈdʌkt /

noun

1. personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment.

   Synonyms:

   manners, actions, comportment, demeanor

2. direction or management; administration.

   the conduct of a business.

   Synonyms:

   government, guidance

3. the act of conducting; guidance.

   The curator's conduct through the museum was informative.

4. Obsolete. a guide; an escort.

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verb (used with object)

• conducts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conducted,
  past participle,  past
• conducting
  present participle

1. to behave or manage (oneself).

   He conducted himself well.

   Synonyms:

   bear, deport

2. to direct in action or course; manage; carry on: to conduct a test.

   to conduct a meeting;

   to conduct a test.

   Synonyms:

   administer, supervise

3. to direct (an orchestra, chorus, etc.) as leader.

4. to lead or guide; escort.

   to conduct a tour.

5. to serve as a channel or medium for (heat, electricity, sound, etc.).

   Copper conducts electricity.

verb (used without object)

• conducts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conducted,
  past participle,  past
• conducting
  present participle

1. to lead.

2. to act as conductor, or leader of a musical group, by communicating a specific interpretation of the music to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands.

conduct British  

noun

1. the manner in which a person behaves; behaviour

2. the way of managing a business, affair, etc; handling

3. rare the act of guiding or leading

4. rare a guide or leader

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verb

1. (tr) to accompany and guide (people, a party, etc) (esp in the phrase conducted tour )

2. (tr) to lead or direct (affairs, business, etc); control

3. (tr) to do or carry out

   conduct a survey

4. (tr) to behave or manage (oneself)

   the child conducted himself well

5. Also (esp US): direct.  to control or guide (an orchestra, choir, etc) by the movements of the hands or a baton

6. to transmit (heat, electricity, etc)

   metals conduct heat

Usage

What are other ways to say conduct?

To conduct oneself is to behave or manage oneself. To conduct a tour is to lead or guide it. How does conduct compare to synonyms guide, direct, and lead? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Synonym Usage

See behavior.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conductibility
  noun
• nonconductibility
  noun
• preconduct
  verb (used with object)
• reconduct
  verb (used with object)
• conductible
  adjective
• nonconductible
  adjective
• unconductible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conducting
  present
• conducted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• conduct
  simple
• conducts
  simple
• have conducted
  perfect
• has conducted
  perfect
• am conducting
  progressive
• are conducting
  progressive
• is conducting
  progressive
• have been conducting
  perfect progressive
• has been conducting
  perfect progressive

Past

• conducted
  simple
• had conducted
  perfect
• was conducting
  progressive
• were conducting
  progressive
• had been conducting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will conduct
  simple
• will have conducted
  perfect
• will be conducting
  progressive
• will have been conducting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of conduct

First recorded in 1250–1300; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin conductus “escort,” noun use of Latin conductus (past participle of condūcere “to lead, bring together”), equivalent to con- con- + duc- “to lead” + -tus past participle suffix; replacing Middle English conduyt(e), from Anglo-French, from Latin as above; see conduit; conduce

Explanation

The noun conduct refers to behavior, like how students are rewarded for good conduct. The verb conduct means carry something through, as in "to conduct a survey." And if you lead an orchestra, you conduct it. Your conduct (accent on the first syllable), or your own behavior, is the way you conduct (accent on the second syllable), or lead, yourself. Keep the accent on the second syllable to conduct, or lead, an orchestra, and to conduct an interview by asking someone questions. Also, metals like copper or gold conduct electricity by letting the electricity pass through.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conduct conducts conducted conducting

And Liani noted that the company owns historical data and context on how companies conduct their workflows, which he thinks positions it well to implement agentic-AI solutions.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

"Instead of getting better, press conduct is getting worse. And the impact of that failure is deadly," it said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Experts say fake polls are exceedingly rare but that these recent election results highlight the differences between high- and low-quality polls and how much easier it has become to conduct less rigorous polling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

L3Harris only said that an investigation found the CEO had violated the company’s code of conduct and that his alleged behavior wouldn’t impact the company’s financial performance, business relationships and operations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Every thing declared it; his own attentions, his father’s hints, his mother-in-law’s guarded silence; it was all in unison; words, conduct, discretion, and indiscretion, told the same story.

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

The deputies will be placed on paid administrative leave while the Riverside County Sheriff’s Force Investigation Detail conducts an investigation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

“We’ve seen this gradual erosion of concern around pricing,” says Rob Jonas, CEO of the entertainment data company Luminate, which conducts regular surveys of music lovers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Gold is prized in electronic circuits because it conducts electricity well and does not corrode.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

Deep inside is the oldest part, the brainstem, which conducts the basic biological functions, including the rhythms of life—heartbeat and respiration.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Stephanie Leach, a sixth-year graduate student in Hwang's lab, contributed to the design of the project, led the experiments conducted with participants, and co-led preparation of the manuscript.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Attorneys general from Iowa, Arkansas, and Missouri had sought an injunction against the EPA to stop them from ordering states to evaluate their water utilities’ cybersecurity operational technology when they conducted inspections.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

SK Hynix, which conducted an IPO of U.S. shares in July and trades on the Nasdaq, saw its American depositary receipts rise 4% in premarket action Wednesday following the buyback announcement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Senate is his home state of Michigan, he posted on social media the results of a poll conducted by a firm calling itself Delphi Analytica that showed him leading Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

In order to find out where women actually stood on the issue, in November 1895, Massachusetts conducted a nonbinding referendum.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

The tasting was one of dozens of tests the maker of Slim Jims and Hungry-Man dinners is conducting with an eye toward the conundrum presented by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The Scottish government has promised to directly award the yard new orders for four smaller ships, but ministers say they are still conducting "due diligence" on the plan.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

By analyzing the Cairo tissue samples at the molecular level and conducting experiments in mice, Quitterer and her colleagues uncovered evidence that GRK2 plays an important role in dementia.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Fabregas expressed his gratitude for the work the county sheriff’s search and rescue team was conducting, saying, “That just makes you feel better that we’re going to, we’re going to find her soon.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Along with all this, I suppose I’m trying to say that I know how bitterly you resent the years when S. and I were regularly conducting home seminars, and the metaphysical sittings in particular.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Related Words

• attend
• control
• direct
• handle
• keep
• manage
• operate
• order
• organize
• oversee
• regulate
• run
• supervise