automate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
automates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
automated,
past participle, past
-
automating
present participle
-
to apply the principles of automation to (a mechanical process, industry, office, etc.).
-
to operate or control by automation.
-
to displace or make obsolete by automation (often followed byout ).
The unskilled jobs are going to be automated out.
verb (used without object)
-
automates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
automated,
past participle, past
-
automating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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automatesimple
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automatessimple
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have automatedperfect
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has automatedperfect
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am automatingprogressive
-
are automatingprogressive
-
is automatingprogressive
-
have been automatingperfect progressive
-
has been automatingperfect progressive
Past
-
automatedsimple
-
had automatedperfect
-
was automatingprogressive
-
were automatingprogressive
-
had been automatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of automate
First recorded in 1950–55; back formation from automation
Explanation
When you design a machine to complete a process once done by a human, you automate the process. Standardized tests once had to be graded by hand, now they're automated, i.e. done by computers. If you automate a factory, workers might lose jobs to robots and machines. A century ago, if you did laundry, you had to turn the clothes in the drum by hand. It was really hard work, so hard that in many families one day was set aside as laundry day and everyone had to help. In 1937, the first electric, or automated, washer was sold, with a motor that turned the drum. Since then, the job has become much easier, though most of us still find it a chore.
Vocabulary lists containing automate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Do it Yourself: Words Beginning with "AUTO"
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: auto
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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:
Companies are using AI to automate entry-level cybersecurity tasks, shifting job market demand toward more experienced workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The technology might still eliminate jobs, manipulate or mislead users, or automate away forms of expression that used to be exclusively human.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Initially, a plug-in will allow Salesforce users to apply Claude’s reasoning capabilities to their corporate data and automate certain sales functions, the companies said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
An insurer, for example, can use AI to automate claims processing and to connect claims data with underwriting, pricing, fraud detection and customer service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Then log on, navigate to the desired services, do what you want to automate, and disconnect.
From The Online World by Odd De Presno
“As AI automates more of the economy and more of society, we are handing over more and more power to it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
And as the artificial-intelligence industry grows, a new wave of agentic AI investing platforms is emerging that automates active, autonomous trading decisions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
"This self-regulating behavior helps keep fuel production more stable throughout the day and automates the system, while reducing dependence on batteries and costly external components," he added.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
Chief Executive Allan Thygesen said demand is growing for the company’s AI-native Intelligent Agreement Management platform, which automates the entire lifecycle of business agreements from initial drafting to post-signature data management.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
You get on these by sending a message to a specific e- mail address, which is often that of a computer that automates the process.
From Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Electronic Frontier Foundation
“Look at how much of your day-to-day could be handled by a tool or an automated process,” Jay said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
A spokesperson for the social platform told The Times that automated moderation systems flagged the livestream within minutes but that a moderator error caused a delay in the removal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Junior candidates, she said, need to show hands-on capability earlier, including cloud and identity basics, AI fluency and the ability to validate automated outputs instead of simply trusting them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
At roughly the same time, more than 1,000 employees at cutting-edge AI companies including Amodei signed a petition calling on the US government to help "deliberately pace the frontier of automated AI development."
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
They couldn’t use the automated landing system because it wasn’t set up to handle a plane with that much weight.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Dean, who joined Google as its 30th employee in 1999, will be chief executive at a new public-benefit corporation called Discovery Loop that aims to accelerate technology by automating complicated, multistep science and engineering tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Investors also fear that generative AI could disrupt the country's $315-billion IT services industry by automating tasks long outsourced to India, such as customer service and app maintenance.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
By automating these repetitive journeys, Geek+ says retailers can increase picking speeds, store more goods in spaces that are hard to reach for humans, and reduce errors.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Agentic AI trading automates the active, complex work, multistep trades, strategy switching, custom position sizing. That’s not automating discipline; that’s automating action. Not the same thing.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Instantly I begin counting a beat in my head, automating my actions.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
