delegate
Americannoun
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delegates
plural
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a person designated to act for or represent another or others; deputy; representative, as in a political convention.
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(formerly) the representative of a Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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a member of the lower house of the state legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia.
noun
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a person chosen or elected to act for or represent another or others, esp at a conference or meeting
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government a representative of a territory in the US House of Representatives
verb
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to give or commit (duties, powers, etc) to another as agent or representative; depute
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(tr) to send, authorize, or elect (a person) as agent or representative
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(tr) to assign (a person owing a debt to oneself) to one's creditor in substitution for oneself
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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delegateenoun
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delegatornoun
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nondelegatenoun
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predelegatenoun
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subdelegatenoun
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redelegateverb (used with object)
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subdelegateverb (used with object)
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delegableadjective
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undelegatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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delegatesimple
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delegatessimple
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have delegatedperfect
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has delegatedperfect
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am delegatingprogressive
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are delegatingprogressive
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is delegatingprogressive
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have been delegatingperfect progressive
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has been delegatingperfect progressive
Past
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delegatedsimple
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had delegatedperfect
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was delegatingprogressive
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were delegatingprogressive
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had been delegatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of delegate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (past participle) delegat, from Medieval Latin dēlēgātus, noun use of past participle of dēlēgāre “to assign,” equivalent to dē- de- + lēgātus “deputed”; see legate
Explanation
Delegate lends an official air to passing off your work. If you don't like cleaning the bathroom, you can try to delegate that task to your little brother. A delegate is also an elected official, or the person who is doing the task you delegated them to do. In presidential primaries in the United States, you do not vote for a candidate, you vote for a delegate whose job it is to vote for that candidate at a convention. Be careful with how you pronounce the end of the word. The elected official is pronounced DE-lə-git whereas delegate as a verb should be DE-lə-gāt.
Vocabulary lists containing delegate
The Bill of Rights
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List 4
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U.S. Government Lingo
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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:
When you delegate to a person, your own burden can lighten, because part of your responsibility has gone elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
How do you delegate the tasks you formerly did, lead former peers and juggle increased responsibilities?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
“I’ve learned to delegate and let other people take over.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
"The latest figure that we have is 72," the government's delegate to Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez Triano, told reporters, when asked about the number of fatalities.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Thyon was, in fact, the only delegate who hadn’t come to watch the launch.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
For some delegates, however, neither leading contender could fully replace Trump.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
State-level governments hold significant powers over areas including local education, policing and culture, while their delegates sit in the federal government's second chamber – the Bundesrat.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The four-day conference, which Steinem had a prominent role in organizing, brought together 2,000 elected delegates and 32,000 observers—women from every state as well as representatives from indigenous groups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
His remarks drew an ovation from 1,500 guests at Havana’s Palace of Conventions, including delegates from Communist parties stretching from Chile to China.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Around the rustic table placed in the center of a patched circus tent where the delegates sat were the last officers who were faithful to Colonel Aureliano Buendía.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Those people said his condition eventually improved and he has delegated responsibilities to his executive team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Lunetta pointed out that hospitals "have repetitive tasks" which "could be delegated to a good robot".
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
In 2022, the 5th Circuit ruled that this arrangement delegated “government power to a private entity without sufficient agency supervision” and struck it down.
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2026
“I don’t see where Harmeet Dhillon has the experience or the normal level of authority that this would be delegated to,” the official said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
So finally they delegated me to tell him that he needed to take a bath more often.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Similarly to that crawl, L.A.’s will feature a passport system, which involves delegating stamps for every purchase of $10 or more at each stop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
These set out guidance on what states can do to enhance credibility and improve transparency, including by delegating investigations to a third party if necessary.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
He has also espoused a more collegiate style of governance, delegating some particularly sensitive topics to his senior clergy.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
People can tell the difference between making a decision and delegating it to a system.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
This morning Dad has taken the liberty of delegating tasks through passive-aggressive Post-it notes hidden like Easter eggs all over the house.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
