communicate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to impart knowledge of; make known.
to communicate information;
to communicate one's happiness.
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to give to another; impart; transmit.
to communicate a disease.
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to administer the Eucharist to.
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Archaic. to share in or partake of.
verb (used without object)
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to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc..
They communicate with each other every day.
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to express thoughts, feelings, or information easily or effectively.
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to be joined or connected.
The rooms communicated by means of a hallway.
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to partake of the Eucharist.
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Obsolete. to take part or participate.
verb
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to impart (knowledge) or exchange (thoughts, feelings, or ideas) by speech, writing, gestures, etc
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to allow (a feeling, emotion, etc) to be sensed (by), willingly or unwillingly; transmit (to)
the dog communicated his fear to the other animals
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(intr) to have a sympathetic mutual understanding
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to make or have a connecting passage or route; connect
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(tr) to transmit (a disease); infect
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(intr) Christianity to receive or administer Communion
Synonym Usage
Communicate, impart denote giving to a person or thing a part or share of something, now usually something immaterial, as knowledge, thoughts, hopes, qualities, or properties. Communicate, the more common word, implies often an indirect or gradual transmission: to communicate information by means of letters, telegrams, etc.; to communicate one's wishes to someone else. Impart usually implies directness of action: to impart information.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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communicatornoun
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overcommunicateverb
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precommunicateverb
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communicatoryadjective
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noncommunicatingadjective
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uncommunicatingadjective
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well-communicatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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communicatesimple
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communicatessimple
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have communicatedperfect
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has communicatedperfect
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am communicatingprogressive
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are communicatingprogressive
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is communicatingprogressive
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have been communicatingperfect progressive
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has been communicatingperfect progressive
Past
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communicatedsimple
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had communicatedperfect
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was communicatingprogressive
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were communicatingprogressive
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had been communicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of communicate
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin commūnicātus “imparted,” past participle of commūnicāre “to impart, make common,” equivalent to commūn(is) common + -icāre, verb suffix
Explanation
To communicate is to exchange words, feelings, or information with others. They did communicate through texting and picture sharing, but the hug he gave his mom when he came home from college communicated more love than any instant message. There are countless ways to communicate! Using an exclamation point in the first sentence is a way to communicate excitement at the many ways to use communicate. A facial expression can communicate joy or anger, and something written can communicate ideas and instructions. Cave men learned to communicate by drawing on cave walls, and people in modern times communicate electronically. Up close or far away, humans and animals — and some would say extraterrestrials, too — are born to communicate.
Vocabulary lists containing communicate
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
STAAR Grade 7 Reading: The Language of the Test, List 1
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UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #1
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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:
My brother and I never discussed what would happen after he died, and he is no longer able to think clearly or communicate his wishes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
"It's important to me that he's alive... his hand is particularly badly injured, and he's got burns. He's not able to communicate, he doesn't remember the whole event," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Meghan is interested in how Meta is shaping the way we think, communicate and understand each other, and how that might change in the AI era.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
When the researchers closely examined the synapses, the tiny junctions where bipolar cells communicate, they found something unexpected.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
No matter how I tried to communicate, she repeated that one word.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
Serotonin communicates by attaching to receptors on a cell's surface.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
He hasn't done himself any favours with the way he communicates in public – easily irritable and brash.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
The manufacturer, who communicates on encrypted messaging boards such as Telegram and Signal, charges $290 for 10 vials of compounded tirzepatide, which will last Awadalla about a year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Kevin Warsh used his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman to put his stamp on how the central bank operates and communicates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
They can specify how a nerve cell communicates with another nerve cell and thus become the arbiters of normal cognition and neural development.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
"Our performance skills in thousands of domains cannot be communicated to machines," he explains.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
“After the Altus Power solar array at the Los Palos warehouse caught fire in 2024, we communicated with city agencies about the safety of the solar array,” the statement said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Amazon said: "We sincerely apologise to Ms Bews that our site access policy was not communicated clearly before she travelled."
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Bezos also said he didn’t regret blocking the presidential endorsement at the Post and would do it again, but should have announced his decision sooner and communicated better, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
You communicated with her very well, by the way.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Mr. Tremblay does an excellent job communicating the minutiae of steering Bernie; each new situation is a physical puzzle Julia has to solve.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
A few settlers in anoraks come out to wave to us from the shore and President Jedlička, communicating via megaphone, presents one of the settlers with an official medal.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
When communicating with him, keep it calm and firm, and make sure everything is in writing.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
The Fed can influence economic conditions in three ways: by adjusting the target range for the federal-funds rate, making changes to its balance sheet, and communicating expectations about inflation and future policy moves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
The tin porcupine was to be used as a sign, a way of communicating without speaking, when they secretly met, indicating that everything and everyone was all right.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
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.
