describe
Americanverb (used with object)
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to tell or depict in written or spoken words; give an account of.
He described the accident very carefully.
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to pronounce, as by a designating term, phrase, or the like; label.
There are few people who may be described as geniuses.
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to indicate; be a sign of; denote.
Conceit, in many cases, describes a state of serious emotional insecurity.
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to represent or delineate by a picture or figure.
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Geometry. to draw or trace the outline of.
to describe an arc.
verb
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to give an account or representation of in words
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to pronounce or label
he has been described as a genius
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to draw a line or figure, such as a circle
Synonym Usage
Describe, narrate agree in the idea of giving an account of something. To describe is to convey in words the appearance, nature, attributes, etc., of something. The word often implies vividness of personal observation: to describe a scene, an event. To narrate is to recount the occurrence of something, usually by giving the details of an event or events in the order of their happening. Narrate thus applies only to that which happens over time: to narrate an incident.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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describabilitynoun
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describernoun
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undescribablenessnoun
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overdescribeverb (used with object)
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predescribeverb (used with object)
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redescribeverb (used with object)
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describableadjective
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nondescribableadjective
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self-describedadjective
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undescribableadjective
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undescribedadjective
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well-describedadjective
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describablyadverb
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undescribablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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describesimple
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describessimple
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have describedperfect
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has describedperfect
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am describingprogressive
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are describingprogressive
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is describingprogressive
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have been describingperfect progressive
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has been describingperfect progressive
Past
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describedsimple
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had describedperfect
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was describingprogressive
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were describingprogressive
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had been describingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of describe
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English describen, from Latin dēscrībere, equivalent to dē- de- + scrībere “to write”
Explanation
To describe is to report details about something either out loud or in writing. "Since we can't come to Paris with you, please describe it in your letter!" Describe is from the Latin word describere which means "to write down." When you describe something, you're "da" scribe, the person writing things down! Writing teachers love to have students describe, using lots of details using the five senses and figurative language. It doesn't have to be written down, though — you can also describe that gold dress you saw to your friend on the phone. Or you can describe a circle, by sketching it out with a stick in the sand.
Vocabulary lists containing describe
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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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:
Participants who reported more insight were also more likely to describe improved well-being one month later.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
And a few women describe the experience of "leg hair harassment" or a term coined online as "sunehara", referring to the discomfort of being forced to see their colleague's leg hair.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
CoreWeave is often referred to as a “neocloud,” but the company rejects that term because it doesn’t describe what it does, only making the point that it follows an earlier generation of clouds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"They can remove the statues, but they can never erase Bogyoke's image," one Yangon resident said, using the Burmese word for general to describe Aung San.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
I add “New York State” and “futurist sustainable living community,” because those are the words I’ve always heard the adults use to describe the Ranch.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
And the midtempo ballad “The Knife” describes a collapsing relationship as a mortal threat, akin to a dagger jabbed into one’s side or a case of kerosene waiting to be ignited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
She describes a “popular annual cocktail buffet at the Hay Adams Hotel on the rooftop overlooking the White House” on the night of Trump’s UFC cage fight on the White House lawn.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Van Nunen describes it as an "an anytime but not an every time allergy".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
"When you have lots of particles that interact by quantum physics, you have this wave function that describes the state of the system," Tindall says.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
“No. It’s just indigestion. Of course, indigestion, also known as dyspepsia, is a term that describes a wide range of gastrointestinal maladies.”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
It has been described as the third-worst outbreak on record by WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Even so, they described the result as a previously unseen indication that psychedelics may produce lasting changes in the brain.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
He was described as a former anesthesiologist, a “master yachtsman” and “world traveler.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The move follows a yearlong investigation by U.S. trade officials into what they described as unfair trade practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Brightbill had described the poison tide as winding through the ocean, like a river.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
Researchers focused on temporary increases in brain "entropy," a term describing the variety and unpredictability of neural activity.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
The difference is that he’s describing the U.K.’s white underclass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The committee also said there were "policy contradictions", with benefits cuts for people in training undermining the government's drive to encourage apprenticeships, describing the "lack of coherence" as "inexcusable".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Users on Udio can type prompts describing the type of song they wish to create.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
A legend in his own time, Americans had been describing Washington as “the Father of the Country” since 1776—which is to say, before there was even a country.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
