- past participle of articulate.
- past tense form of articulate.
articulated
Americanadjective
-
made clear or distinct.
articulated sounds.
-
having a joint or joints; jointed.
an articulated appendage.
-
(of a vehicle) built in sections that are hinged or otherwise connected so as to allow flexibility of movement.
an articulated bus; an articulated locomotive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of articulated
First recorded in 1545–55; articulate + -ed 2
Explanation
Something is articulated if it's made of sections connected by joints. Articulated limbs have bones that bend where they join, at an elbow or a wrist for example. Human bodies are full of articulated sections, with joints at the knees, hips, shoulders, and so on. You can also describe an object as articulated if it's made up of pieces that connect in flexible segments. A long train can be composed of articulated cars. Articulated comes from the verb articulate, "to divide into distinct parts," from the Latin articulare, "separate into joints," and the Latin root articulus, "joint."
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.
"It's like sending something into the world that you have never articulated before," she said.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Suozzi met with dissidents the day before his remarks at the Salvadoran National Prayer Breakfast but doesn’t appear to have articulated their concerns publicly.
From Salon • May 29, 2026
He never had a good reason for going to war—or at least never articulated a consistent reason.
From Slate • May 18, 2026
The plan’s do-nothing nature was never so clearly articulated as when Modica approached the mic at a packed town meeting Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
No explicit objectives in the art form are articulated.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
