create

American  

[kree-eyt] / kriˈeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• creates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• created,
  past participle,  past
• creating
  present participle

1. to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

2. to evolve from one's own thought or imagination, as a work of art or an invention.

   Synonyms:

   invent, contrive, devise, initiate, originate

3. Theater. to perform (a role) for the first time or in the first production of a play.

4. to make by investing with new rank or by designating; constitute; appoint.

   to create a peer.

5. to be the cause or occasion of; give rise to.

   The announcement created confusion.

6. to cause to happen; bring about; arrange, as by intention or design.

   to create a revolution; to create an opportunity to ask for a raise.

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verb (used without object)

• creates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• created,
  past participle,  past
• creating
  present participle

1. to do something creative or constructive.

2. British. to make a fuss.

adjective

1. Archaic. created.

create British  

/ kriːˈeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to cause to come into existence

2. (tr) to invest with a new honour, office, or title; appoint

3. (tr) to be the cause of

   these circumstances created the revolution

4. (tr) to act (a role) in the first production of a play

5. (intr) to be engaged in creative work

6. slang (intr) to make a fuss or uproar

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intercreate
  verb (used with object)
• creatable
  adjective
• self-creating
  adjective
• uncreatable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• creating
  present
• created
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• create
  simple
• creates
  simple
• have created
  perfect
• has created
  perfect
• am creating
  progressive
• are creating
  progressive
• is creating
  progressive
• have been creating
  perfect progressive
• has been creating
  perfect progressive

Past

• created
  simple
• had created
  perfect
• was creating
  progressive
• were creating
  progressive
• had been creating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will create
  simple
• will have created
  perfect
• will be creating
  progressive
• will have been creating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of create

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English creat (past participle), from Latin creātus, equivalent to creā- (stem of creāre “to make”) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

To create simply means to make or bring into existence. Bakers create cakes, ants create problems at picnics, and you probably created a few imaginary friends when you were little. Similar to conceive and spawn and the exact opposite of destroy, create is a word that often implies a little bit of imagination. In fact, it takes a lot of creativity to create something spectacular; that is, unless you're a robot, and then your creations occur automatically. Or Mother Nature, where creation just happens naturally: Birds create nests, the tides create waves, and snowstorms create days off from school.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

create creates created creating

"I think that there's a strategy to divide and conquer and to create a very contrived confusion," he argues.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Once the selected become official members of the Green Lantern Corps, they can wield their rings to create astronomical constructs.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

“You can’t create a good management idea unless you talk to the citizens and see what people want.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Huettl said the Leapmotor partnership would combine German industrial know-how with the Chinese company's software expertise "to create the best of both worlds".

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

We create entire backstories, including betrayals, missing parents—the works.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

“This creates far too many opportunities for something to go wrong, and when something does go wrong, it’s our oceans, beaches, wildlife and coastal economy that pay the price.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

A large donor-advised fund contribution creates a large deduction.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

TBX5 helps direct cohesin to the correct locations on DNA, where it creates chromatin loops that bring genes together with their enhancers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

Instead he creates drama or a crisis, arouses a counterforce, attacks this new enemy, experiences fear—will my luck hold?—defeats the new enemy, feels relief, relaxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Dad told me that breaking a wand destroys the curse it creates.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

The trial will revisit the battle between Death Row, founded by Marion "Suge" Knight, and Bad Boy Records, the East Coast label created by Sean "Diddy" Combs, which signed Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G."

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

A fundraiser created by Dudley Council to help residents "rebuild their lives" has surpassed £25,000.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

But even if we ignore the self-interest of critics and assume that forward guidance was created with good intentions, it simply doesn’t work in practice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

These extremely energetic collisions convert tremendous amounts of energy into thousands of newly created particles.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

A copy of the only painting depicting the sinking of the Mary Rose, the engraving was created sometime between 1545 and 1548.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Many of the mortgages defaulted, creating a foreclosure crisis that threatened to drag blocks back down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Temperatures reached as high as 37C in some parts of the country on Friday, creating conditions conducive to wildfire outbreaks.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

The researchers then combined the findings with data from two earlier studies in a meta-analysis, creating a much larger group of patients.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

I’m wondering if the justices are themselves creating these absurd notions or if appellate advocates are suggesting and steering the justices toward these contrived ways of thinking.

From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026

He likes creating these special effects: the stranger and the harder, the better.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Related Words

• build
• conceive
• construct
• design
• devise
• discover
• establish
• forge
• form
• found
• generate
• initiate
• invent
• make
• organize
• plan
• produce
• set up
• shape
• spawn