delegate
Americannoun
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a person designated to act for or represent another or others; deputy; representative, as in a political convention.
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(formerly) the representative of a Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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a member of the lower house of the state legislature of Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia.
noun
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a person chosen or elected to act for or represent another or others, esp at a conference or meeting
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government a representative of a territory in the US House of Representatives
verb
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to give or commit (duties, powers, etc) to another as agent or representative; depute
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(tr) to send, authorize, or elect (a person) as agent or representative
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(tr) to assign (a person owing a debt to oneself) to one's creditor in substitution for oneself
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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delegateenoun
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delegatornoun
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nondelegatenoun
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predelegatenoun
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subdelegatenoun
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redelegateverb (used with object)
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subdelegateverb (used with object)
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delegableadjective
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undelegatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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delegatesimple
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delegatessimple
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have delegatedperfect
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has delegatedperfect
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am delegatingprogressive
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are delegatingprogressive
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is delegatingprogressive
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have been delegatingperfect progressive
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has been delegatingperfect progressive
Past
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delegatedsimple
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had delegatedperfect
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was delegatingprogressive
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were delegatingprogressive
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had been delegatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of delegate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (past participle) delegat, from Medieval Latin dēlēgātus, noun use of past participle of dēlēgāre “to assign,” equivalent to dē- de- + lēgātus “deputed”; see legate
Explanation
Delegate lends an official air to passing off your work. If you don't like cleaning the bathroom, you can try to delegate that task to your little brother. A delegate is also an elected official, or the person who is doing the task you delegated them to do. In presidential primaries in the United States, you do not vote for a candidate, you vote for a delegate whose job it is to vote for that candidate at a convention. Be careful with how you pronounce the end of the word. The elected official is pronounced DE-lə-git whereas delegate as a verb should be DE-lə-gāt.
Vocabulary lists containing delegate
The Bill of Rights
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List 4
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U.S. Government Lingo
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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:
As AI begins building AI, the country that trusts its models most can delegate the most and compound the fastest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
With temperatures dipping around Madrid, "there is a real opportunity now to tackle this fire with some guarantee of success," the central government's delegate in the Spanish capital, Francisco Martin, told reporters late Friday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Francisco Martín, the government delegate in Madrid, warned those numbers could rise as "embers are flying for miles and the fire is jumping great distances".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
In some large counties, Jackson won every delegate at stake as a plurality of convention attendees simply voted for the populist Democrat’s slate.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
At his urging, Silas Deane, a Connecticut delegate to the Continental Congress, was sent to Paris in 1776 by the Committee of Secret Correspondence.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
In December, Motsepe attended the ANC's national general council meeting, where some delegates wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "PM27" -- a reference to a possible presidential bid in 2027.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Jackson campaign, for example, has rolled out slates of delegates who promise to vote for Jackson at the convention in all of Maine’s counties.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
And letting voters select delegates—and even become delegates themselves—seems like a genuine effort at inclusiveness and transparency.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
After a six-week standoff, the Bundist delegates walked out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
When the delegates had met up in Alkonost, they had assumed they would be enlightened as to the reason for their journey.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Lunetta pointed out that hospitals "have repetitive tasks" which "could be delegated to a good robot".
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Its investment committee exercises fiduciary authority delegated by the legislature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
And an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012 delegated this authority to the secretary of defense.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
“I don’t see where Harmeet Dhillon has the experience or the normal level of authority that this would be delegated to,” the official said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
But first a tissue sample had to be provided, which required a tricky biopsy that Farmer delegated to a very competent Haitian surgeon in Mirebalais.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Similarly to that crawl, L.A.’s will feature a passport system, which involves delegating stamps for every purchase of $10 or more at each stop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Supervision of an agency is necessary to comply with the private nondelegation doctrine, a constitutional principle that prohibits Congress and agencies from delegating authority to private parties without sufficient government oversight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
But he has become good at delegating, too, with all of the backroom team delivering sessions so the squad don't get tired of hearing one voice.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
"Our historical experience has taught us that delegating vital matters... to international judicial bodies has been detrimental to our sovereignty and our territorial integrity," he said.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
He was delegating the red rubber bands to Laney when his mom called to him from the kitchen.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
