declare

American  

[dih-klair] / dɪˈklɛər /

verb (used with object)

• declares,
  present (3rd person singular)
• declared,
  past participle,  past
• declaring
  present participle

1. 

   to make known or state clearly, especially in explicit or formal terms.

   to declare one's position in a controversy.

2. to announce officially; proclaim.

   to declare a state of emergency; to declare a winner.

3. to state emphatically.

   He declared that the allegation was a lie.

   Synonyms:

   state, asseverate, aver

   Antonyms:

   deny

4. to manifest; reveal; show.

   Her attendance at the rally declared her political allegiance.

   Synonyms:

   publish, disclose

5. to make due statement of, especially goods for duty or income for taxation.

6. to make (a dividend) payable.

7. Bridge. to bid (a trump suit or no-trump).

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verb (used without object)

• declares,
  present (3rd person singular)
• declared,
  past participle,  past
• declaring
  present participle

1. to make a declaration.

2. to proclaim oneself (usually followed by for oragainst ).

   He declared against the proposal.

3. Cricket. (of a team) to surrender a turn at bat in an innings before ten players are put out.

declare British  

/ dɪˈklɛə /

verb

1. (may take a clause as object) to make clearly known or announce officially

   to declare one's interests

   war was declared

2. to state officially that (a person, fact, etc) is as specified

   he declared him fit

3. (may take a clause as object) to state emphatically; assert

4. to show, reveal, or manifest

   the heavens declare the glory of God

5. (intr; often foll by for or against) to make known one's choice or opinion

6. to make a complete statement of (dutiable goods, etc)

7. (also intr) cards

   1. to display (a card or series of ards) on the table so as to add to one's score

   2. to decide (the trump suit) by making the final bid

8. (intr) cricket to close an innings voluntarily before all ten wickets have fallen

9. to authorize the payment of (a dividend) from corporate net profit

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Synonym Usage

Declare, affirm, assert, protest imply making something known emphatically, openly, or formally. To declare is to make known, sometimes in the face of actual or potential contradiction: to declare someone the winner of a contest. To affirm is to make a statement based on one's reputation for knowledge or veracity, or so related to a generally recognized truth that denial is not likely: to affirm the necessity of high standards. To assert is to state boldly, usually without other proof than personal authority or conviction: to assert that the climate is changing. To protest is to affirm publicly, as if in the face of doubt: to protest that a newspaper account is misleading.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misdeclare
  verb
• predeclare
  verb (used with object)
• redeclare
  verb (used with object)
• declarable
  adjective
• undeclarable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• declaring
  present
• declared
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• declare
  simple
• declares
  simple
• have declared
  perfect
• has declared
  perfect
• am declaring
  progressive
• are declaring
  progressive
• is declaring
  progressive
• have been declaring
  perfect progressive
• has been declaring
  perfect progressive

Past

• declared
  simple
• had declared
  perfect
• was declaring
  progressive
• were declaring
  progressive
• had been declaring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will declare
  simple
• will have declared
  perfect
• will be declaring
  progressive
• will have been declaring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of declare

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English declaren, from Latin dēclārāre “to announce, make evident, reveal,” from dē- de- + clārāre “to make clear” (from clārus clear )

Explanation

If you declare victory, you are ending a war by saying you have won. Hopefully, the other side agrees, or your troops might declare you a fool. To declare is to state clearly and officially. In elections, the government body that counts the votes declares the winner. Until the declaration is made, the results are not official. When you are traveling, you might be asked if you have anything to declare. You're not being asked for a statement of your beliefs, rather they want to know if you bought anything taxable abroad. If you hear your grandmother say, "Well, I declare!" you can be sure she is shocked and offended.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

declare declares declared declaring

In the 1949 classic, a small group of Londoners discover treasure and declare independence making them exempt from post-war rationing and other bureaucratic restrictions.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

A chairman skeptical of fine-tuning is an unlikely candidate to raise rates a quarter point and declare the job done, analysts said Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Today, European stocks are a higher-quality, better capitalized version than they were before the 2008 global financial crisis, with partial exposure to the AI/data-center supercycle, accelerating fiscal spending and global orientation, they declare.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

The amendment provides a process for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unable to discharge the duties of the office.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026

Three days later, the world spins wildly again when the British and the French honor their promise to Poland and declare war on Germany.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

"Hasta la vista," declares the Daily Star, which also leads its front page on Anthropic.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

At the Philadelphia Museum, an early wall label declares “artists are everywhere among us.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

If they cannot agree, the judge declares a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to try the case again with a new jury.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

“I’m dipping nuggets you’ve never heard of into sources you could never understand,” she declares bluntly, causing us to cackle out of sheer surprise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Head slowly bobbing, Ben declares, “I’m coming with you. We’ll take the subway.”

From "Towers Falling" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

And it has put pressure on the government, less than a year after ministers acknowledged the scale of the issue and declared gender-based violence a national disaster.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

The law requires resolutions meant to end a declared emergency to be considered within 15 days.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink declared this week that the United States has weapons orbiting in outer space.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Unifor declared an impasse after Stellantis confirmed it is in advanced talks with Canadian armored carmaker Roshel about the sale of its auto-assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Mostly, though, the guerrillas are symbols of resistance, especially after Manila is declared an open city and the Americans no longer actively defend it.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Though what’s the over/under on when his article declaring they’ll win it all again comes out if they play well in the NLDS?!

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

And they have been doing this without publicly declaring anything.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Or, more likely, he’ll just post an AI meme declaring it so.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Last year, Trump also signed an executive order declaring that the Gulf of Mexico—which is bounded by the U.S.,

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

He renewed the pact established with Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy XIII, declaring Cleopatra to be “a friend and ally” of Rome.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Related Words

• acknowledge
• advocate
• affirm
• announce
• argue
• assert
• claim
• confirm
• disclose
• inform
• insist
• maintain
• proclaim
• reaffirm
• repeat
• reveal
• stress
• tell