distinguish
to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
to recognize as distinct or different; recognize the salient or individual features or characteristics of: It is hard to distinguish her from her twin sister.
to set apart as different; be a distinctive characteristic of; characterize: It is his Italian accent that distinguishes him.
to make prominent, conspicuous, or eminent: to distinguish oneself in battle.
to divide into classes; classify: Let us distinguish the various types of metaphor.
Archaic. to single out for or honor with special attention.
to indicate or show a difference (usually followed by between).
to recognize or note differences; discriminate.
Origin of distinguish
1synonym study For distinguish
Opposites for distinguish
Other words from distinguish
- dis·tin·guish·a·ble, adjective
- dis·tin·guish·er, noun
- dis·tin·guish·ment, noun
- in·ter·dis·tin·guish, verb (used with object)
- pre·dis·tin·guish, verb (used with object)
- re·dis·tin·guish, verb
Words Nearby distinguish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use distinguish in a sentence
I mean, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, making the ads harder to distinguish has been a Google trend.
Google goes dark theme and passage ranking sees the light: Friday’s daily brief | Barry Schwartz | February 12, 2021 | Search Engine LandIf searchers have a harder time distinguishing between the paid and free listings, it might cause confusion on what listing the searcher clicks on.
Google Search dark theme mode expands but search ads are hard to distinguish | Barry Schwartz | February 11, 2021 | Search Engine LandScience fiction has long been distinguished by these dual impulses—leaving home and returning—when it’s not marked by the way that home leaves us, or deceives us when it’s no longer the place we recognize once we’re back.
In Science Fiction, We Are Never Home - Issue 95: Escape | Steve Erickson | February 10, 2021 | NautilusIn Voice, Police Officer Kang Kwon-Joo has a heightened ability to distinguish sounds, allowing her to solve crime cases as a voice profiler.
Filter Link Extensions are another way to distinguish your ads in SERPs.
Microsoft Advertising now offers Filter Link Extensions | Carolyn Lyden | January 26, 2021 | Search Engine Land
After years at the head of a parochial school classroom, he could no longer distinguish one blond Irish Catholic kid from another.
The line between being careful about what you eat and being obsessive is difficult to distinguish.
Orthorexia: When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession | DailyBurn | October 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFood business groups argue that a gram of sugar, natural or added, is a gram of sugar—so why distinguish it?
Guess Who Doesn’t Want You to Know How Much Added Sugar Is in Your Food | Tim Mak | July 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThen there was the attempt to distinguish her tax status from those who are “truly well off.”
Hillary’s Doomed if She Can’t Learn to Talk About Her Privilege | Keli Goff | June 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBehind-the-scenes technological differences do not distinguish Aereo's system from cable systems, which do perform publicly.
In sorting notes it is necessary to be able readily to distinguish between notes of this bank and notes of other reserve banks.
Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur PhillipsThis is a feature by means of which it is always possible to distinguish the Great Horsetail from any other species.
How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard BastinIn the darkness and confusion I did not distinguish the face of the man who rendered me this assistance.
I had no idea who they were, as the Grand Duke was in morning costume, and had no star or decoration to distinguish him.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayIt reappears during a relapse, and thus helps to distinguish between a relapse and a complication, in which it does not reappear.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for distinguish
/ (dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ) /
(when intr, foll by between or among) to make, show, or recognize a difference or differences (between or among); differentiate (between)
to be a distinctive feature of; characterize
to make out; perceive
to mark for a special honour or title
to make (oneself) noteworthy: he distinguished himself by his cowardice
to classify; categorize: we distinguished three species
Origin of distinguish
1Derived forms of distinguish
- distinguishable, adjective
- distinguishably, adverb
- distinguisher, noun
- distinguishing, adjective
- distinguishingly, adverb
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
Browse