compare
Americanverb (used with object)
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compares,
present (3rd person singular)
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compared,
past participle, past
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comparing
present participle
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to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences.
If you compare these three pieces of cloth, you'll see they're all similar in weight.
It's difficult to directly compare the governments of two very different nations.
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to consider or describe as similar; liken.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”
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Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
verb (used without object)
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compares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
compared,
past participle, past
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comparing
present participle
-
to be worthy of comparison; be held equal.
Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
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to appear in a similar standing.
His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
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to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified.
Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
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Can we all agree that most people want fair treatment and to compare favorably with others?
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to make a comparison.
The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.
noun
idioms
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compare apples to / with / and apples, to compare things that are similar to each other in a basic or fundamental way.
Let’s compare apples to apples and look at the Professional package versus the Plus package.
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compare apples and / with / to oranges, to compare things that are fundamentally different from each other, usually used to suggest that the things cannot or should not be directly compared.
Comparing per pupil costs in public schools to tuition costs in private schools is comparing apples and oranges.
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compared to / with, considered in relation to; contrasted with.
The report investigated whether electric buses were cost-effective compared to traditional diesel buses.
Compared with other video editing software, our program offers many more features.
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compare and contrast. see compare and contrast.
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compare notes. note.
verb
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to regard or represent as analogous or similar; liken
the general has been compared to Napoleon
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to examine in order to observe resemblances or differences
to compare rum with gin
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to be of the same or similar quality or value
gin compares with rum in alcoholic content
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(intr) to bear a specified relation of quality or value when examined
this car compares badly with the other
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to correspond to
profits were £3.2 million. This compares with £2.6 million last year
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(tr) grammar to give the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of (an adjective)
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archaic (intr) to compete or vie
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to exchange opinions
noun
Usage
The traditional rule about which preposition to use after compare states that compare should be followed by to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things: She compared his handwriting to knotted string. Compare should be followed by with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class: The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. The usual practice is to employ to for likenesses between members of different classes: A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both to and with are used: The article compares the Chicago of today with (or to ) the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle compared, either to or with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes: Compared with (or to ) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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comparernoun
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intercompareverb (used with object)
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precompareverb (used with object)
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recompareverb (used with object)
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uncomparedadjective
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well-comparedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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comparesimple
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comparessimple
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have comparedperfect
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has comparedperfect
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am comparingprogressive
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are comparingprogressive
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is comparingprogressive
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have been comparingperfect progressive
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has been comparingperfect progressive
Past
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comparedsimple
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had comparedperfect
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was comparingprogressive
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were comparingprogressive
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had been comparingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compare
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English comparen, from Latin comparāre “to place together, match,” verb derivative of compar “alike, matching” ( see com-, par 1); replacing Middle English comperen, from Old French comperer, from Latin
Explanation
To compare is to look at two things and see how they are similar and different. People compare all the time. If you look at two products and compare prices, you're looking for the better bargain. It is hard to compare who was the better athlete, Michael Jordan or Billie Jean King, because they played different sports. At a museum, you can compare different paintings. If you like your math teacher better than your history teacher, you're comparing the two. If a TV shows is bad, you could say "it doesn't compare" to your favorite show.
Vocabulary lists containing compare
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, 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:
We often compare Gen Z’s present to older generations’ memories instead of their reality.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
They can calculate a scenario in which you take Roth conversions and fill a federal tax bracket, and compare that with a scenario in which you don’t take Roth conversions.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
"You can't compare, especially in Glasgow - it's all about football," said Rohl, who speaks with affection for Rangers and Wednesday.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Eventually, they hope to compare circulation patterns between healthy and diseased brains, as well as between younger and older brains.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
I'd figured that, on its own, my score would mean nothing—I needed someone to compare myself with—and so Hugh came along and took the test as well.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
He wrote on Substack that "nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the centre of it".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Artificial Analysis, one of several groups that compares and ranks AI models, said Grok 4.6 scored five points higher on its “Intelligence Index” than Grok 4.5.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
She compares it to holding on to the side of a swimming pool, afraid to let go.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
That compares with a profit of $195.2 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
That compares to about 15 percent in 1983.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
That is tiny compared with the Suez Canal, where more than 30 ships transited daily.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Journalism student Kieran Miller was worried about money, but he compared student bank accounts and chose one that gave him a free 16-25 Railcard, and signed up for student discount schemes.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
High-quality bonds carry a correlation to the S&P 500 of roughly 0.24 — by far the lowest of any major asset class — compared with roughly 0.66 for both developed and emerging international equities.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Even if cubicles were slightly more expensive to maintain or consumed more water, this would not necessarily be enough to justify a price difference compared with urinals, she added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
That had been uncommonly easy, even compared to souls headed to the good realms.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Investors should consider both diversification and the total portfolio risk in their portfolios when comparing active and passive results, Framsted said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The researchers found a way to do this by comparing DNA from immune cells in the blood with DNA from immune cells in the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
But I get the sense that, in comparing Bourdain’s writing to the film, true die-hards will long for his quippy, evocative storytelling that’s absent from “Tony.”
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Wales football fans have been left divided over the country's new home kit, with some comparing the pattern on the red shirt to that seen on bus seats.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Indeed, it seems clear that what he was doing was comparing Galileo’s illustration with what he could see through his telescope, for both Galileo’s illustration and Harriot’s feature a large circular boss.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
