designate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to mark or point out; indicate; show; specify.
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to denote; indicate; signify.
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to name; entitle; style.
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to nominate or select for a duty, office, purpose, etc.; appoint; assign.
adjective
verb
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to indicate or specify
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to give a name to; style; entitle
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to select or name for an office or duty; appoint
adjective
Other Word Forms
- dedesignate verb (used with object)
- designative adjective
- designator noun
- designatory adjective
- nondesignate adjective
- nondesignative adjective
- redesignate verb (used with object)
- undesignated adjective
- undesignative adjective
- well-designated adjective
Etymology
Origin of designate
1640–50; < Latin dēsignātus, past participle of dēsignāre. See design, -ate 1
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.
Immigrant parents can choose to leave the country with their children or to designate someone to care for them, Bis said, which “is consistent with past administration’s policies.”
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
Even better, cut out the trust and family members entirely, and simply designate the timeshare company — or resort association or developer — as the beneficiary of your mother’s timeshare at your death.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 16, 2026
The Pentagon also threatened to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk -- a label typically reserved for companies from adversary nations.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
After the firefighters testified over the course of three weeks, city attorneys invoked a general protective order that any party in the litigation can designate testimony as confidential for up to 30 days.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
He couldn’t see it, of course, though later he said he had felt it come forward, had perceived it with the kind of knowledge that had made the people designate Seer as his true name.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
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.
