Synonyms

communicate

American

[kuh-myoo-ni-keyt] / kəˈmju nɪˌkeɪt /

verb (used with object)

to impart knowledge of; make known.

to communicate information;
to communicate one's happiness.

Synonyms:

reveal, disclose, announce, divulge

Antonyms:

conceal, withhold
to give to another; impart; transmit.

to communicate a disease.
to administer the Eucharist to.
Archaic. to share in or partake of.

verb (used without object)

to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc..

They communicate with each other every day.
to express thoughts, feelings, or information easily or effectively.
to be joined or connected.

The rooms communicated by means of a hallway.
to partake of the Eucharist.
Obsolete. to take part or participate.

communicate British

/ kəˈmjuːnɪˌkeɪt /

verb

to impart (knowledge) or exchange (thoughts, feelings, or ideas) by speech, writing, gestures, etc
to allow (a feeling, emotion, etc) to be sensed (by), willingly or unwillingly; transmit (to)

the dog communicated his fear to the other animals
(intr) to have a sympathetic mutual understanding
to make or have a connecting passage or route; connect
(tr) to transmit (a disease); infect
(intr) Christianity to receive or administer Communion

"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

Synonym Usage

Communicate, impart denote giving to a person or thing a part or share of something, now usually something immaterial, as knowledge, thoughts, hopes, qualities, or properties. Communicate, the more common word, implies often an indirect or gradual transmission: to communicate information by means of letters, telegrams, etc.; to communicate one's wishes to someone else. Impart usually implies directness of action: to impart information.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of communicate

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin commūnicātus “imparted,” past participle of commūnicāre “to impart, make common,” equivalent to commūn(is) common + -icāre, verb suffix

Explanation

To communicate is to exchange words, feelings, or information with others. They did communicate through texting and picture sharing, but the hug he gave his mom when he came home from college communicated more love than any instant message. There are countless ways to communicate! Using an exclamation point in the first sentence is a way to communicate excitement at the many ways to use communicate. A facial expression can communicate joy or anger, and something written can communicate ideas and instructions. Cave men learned to communicate by drawing on cave walls, and people in modern times communicate electronically. Up close or far away, humans and animals — and some would say extraterrestrials, too — are born to communicate.

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Vocabulary lists containing communicate

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STAAR Grade 7 Reading: The Language of the Test, List 1

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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #1

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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:

communicate communicates communicated communicating

Above all, they argued, it is essential to regularly communicate the scientific evidence to past, present and prospective NFL players.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Kumar says they will also need to communicate a clear plan to the market on how much further investment is needed and when a break-even is expected on these ambitious bets.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

“Students need to be able to communicate with each other.”

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Bessent has opened up a couple of cans of worms, said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP, which makes it harder for the Fed and the Treasury Department to communicate to the markets.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Or their interior computer brain went completely buggy and they were no longer able to communicate with Earth.

From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga

She occasionally communicates through Facebook with my previous spouse, with whom I’m still close.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Instead, the frontoparietal cortex appears to adjust which brain regions it communicates with according to the information needed at that particular moment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Warsh came to the Fed intending to change how it communicates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

He hasn't done himself any favours with the way he communicates in public – easily irritable and brash.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

And as it happens, it's the rover that communicates with Pathfinder.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Unions have accused VW of not being straight with workers after the latest plans were first reported in the media and only later communicated internally.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Edney conceded there was "no evidence" that the jurors had communicated with anyone else, but said innocent contact - even just seeing the detective or solicitors - could have resulted in "subconscious influence".

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

We communicated over text—I thanked him for being in touch, asked about his recovery, and tried to gauge his interest in doing a formal interview down the road.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Pyongyang, in a Wednesday statement, called the pullback immaterial and disputed the two leaders had recently communicated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Troop movement commands at the A Union drummer boy. time were communicated by different drumbeats and bugle calls.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

When I joked, “I didn’t realize I was communicating with the NSA,” without skipping a beat, he replied: “breaking news the fbi let a spy get shot 5 times!”

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

One executive, thinking he was communicating with an employee by teletype when in fact he was conversing with Eliza, finally asked, “why are you being so snotty to me?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

My own lab has shown this year that GLP-1 drugs reduce a type of activity in the lateral septum that may prevent it communicating so effectively with other brain regions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

And they seem to have developed telekinetic powers and are now communicating with their cats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Whales communicating across the oceans must have experienced increasingly greater difficulties.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023