create

American  

[kree-ayt] / 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.

---

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

---

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

A spokesperson for the company said the development would bring "significant benefits", such as "the delivery of the new road bridge" and by helping "attract much-needed investment, create well-paid jobs and provide new training opportunities".

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

In their leaves, plants create much of the oxygen we breathe and, directly or indirectly, nearly all the food we eat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Opening a local bank account can also inadvertently create additional reporting obligations.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

By engineering cells before they fully mature, scientists may be able to create therapies that are easier to manufacture, more adaptable, and capable of maintaining a continuing supply of specialized immune defenders.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Any demonstration, even one showing how spirits might be faked, could create more spirit support instead.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Some Wall Street players warn that the new framework creates hidden risks for public companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

If something makes him feel a certain way, rather than getting in an argument with someone, which is tiring, he goes home, talks to himself “like a weirdo” and creates a bit out of it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

Investors demand higher yields when they are worried, or when a supply glut of bonds creates competition for capital.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

The partnership with Kitround creates another route, with sales supporting the Team GB Foundation.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

The only space that exists is the space it creates as it goes.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

“There’s too little capacity in every aspect of the risk that is being created by the AI capital boom,” said Nick Studer, chief executive of Marsh Risk, the insurance brokerage arm of professional-services firm Marsh.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

According to Rouse, the FBI lab in Virginia created three angles of Jackson’s composite face and released it to the public in late 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Warsh did make an announcement on the task forces that he created to overhaul the central bank, saying there will be a meeting next month in the San Francisco era on productivity and jobs.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The hauliers' union Conftrasporto is now threatening a "national blockade", denouncing "the climate of tension created by the unbearable situation linked to the surge in energy prices".

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

As she drew the fibers together, they created vibrant pictures—birds and pixies and flowers—and they were so lifelike they seemed to breathe and move as if in a gentle breeze.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Why would Slate go to the trouble of creating this alternate reality?

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Sometimes someone says something that maybe you shouldn't say at that certain time, but it doesn't distract us from what we are creating here and the environment and spirit within the group.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

It also allows managers to spend more time on what they’re uniquely qualified to do, while creating an environment that motivates employees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

In effect, the steps acted like tiny rails, creating preferred pathways for quantum vortices to follow.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Audiences paid to hear Heman loudly crack his big toe inside his boot while Chauncey accused the “Rochester girls” of creating fake spirit rappings using the same method.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---