received
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of received
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; receive + -ed 2
Explanation
Received is an adjective that refers to something that is largely accepted as true or good. It’s also the past participle of the verb receive. If you rely on received wisdom, you might not ever come up with an original idea. Received, meaning “generally accepted as true or worthy,” was first recorded in the fifteenth century as the past participle adjective of receive, a verb meaning “accept.” So, that which has been accepted, has been received, or noted as correct or good. More specifically, received can be used to refer to established truths, like that failing to drink enough water can lead to dehydration. It's one of those words that actually follows the rule "i before e except after c."
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.
Received pronunciation, also known as "Queen's English" does well to gain people's trust, but mainly because of its social prestige.
From BBC • Jan. 3, 2025
Received wisdom, in soccer, has always had it that players should — to be blunt — always take the money, the big break, as soon as they can.
From New York Times • May 11, 2022
As savage as Swift or Céline, somewhat reminiscent of Flaubert’s “Dictionary of Received Ideas,” these blistering pages indict a bourgeois culture of selfishness and mediocrity.
From Washington Post • May 11, 2022
The results were released in 1997 in a report entitled “Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from Iodine-131 in Fallout following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests.”
From Scientific American • Jan. 27, 2022
The one standout entry in the Received column was the seventy dollars from Formann’s Department Store.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
