compare
Americanverb (used with object)
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compares,
present (3rd person singular)
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compared,
past participle, past
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comparing
present participle
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to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences.
If you compare these three pieces of cloth, you'll see they're all similar in weight.
It's difficult to directly compare the governments of two very different nations.
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to consider or describe as similar; liken.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?”
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Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).
verb (used without object)
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compares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
compared,
past participle, past
-
comparing
present participle
-
to be worthy of comparison; be held equal.
Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.
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to appear in a similar standing.
His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.
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to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified.
Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.
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Can we all agree that most people want fair treatment and to compare favorably with others?
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to make a comparison.
The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.
noun
idioms
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compare apples to / with / and apples, to compare things that are similar to each other in a basic or fundamental way.
Let’s compare apples to apples and look at the Professional package versus the Plus package.
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compare apples and / with / to oranges, to compare things that are fundamentally different from each other, usually used to suggest that the things cannot or should not be directly compared.
Comparing per pupil costs in public schools to tuition costs in private schools is comparing apples and oranges.
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compared to / with, considered in relation to; contrasted with.
The report investigated whether electric buses were cost-effective compared to traditional diesel buses.
Compared with other video editing software, our program offers many more features.
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compare and contrast. see compare and contrast.
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compare notes. note.
verb
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to regard or represent as analogous or similar; liken
the general has been compared to Napoleon
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to examine in order to observe resemblances or differences
to compare rum with gin
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to be of the same or similar quality or value
gin compares with rum in alcoholic content
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(intr) to bear a specified relation of quality or value when examined
this car compares badly with the other
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to correspond to
profits were £3.2 million. This compares with £2.6 million last year
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(tr) grammar to give the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of (an adjective)
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archaic (intr) to compete or vie
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to exchange opinions
noun
Usage
The traditional rule about which preposition to use after compare states that compare should be followed by to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things: She compared his handwriting to knotted string. Compare should be followed by with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class: The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. The usual practice is to employ to for likenesses between members of different classes: A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both to and with are used: The article compares the Chicago of today with (or to ) the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle compared, either to or with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes: Compared with (or to ) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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comparernoun
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intercompareverb (used with object)
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precompareverb (used with object)
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recompareverb (used with object)
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uncomparedadjective
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well-comparedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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comparesimple
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comparessimple
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have comparedperfect
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has comparedperfect
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am comparingprogressive
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are comparingprogressive
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is comparingprogressive
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have been comparingperfect progressive
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has been comparingperfect progressive
Past
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comparedsimple
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had comparedperfect
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was comparingprogressive
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were comparingprogressive
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had been comparingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compare
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English comparen, from Latin comparāre “to place together, match,” verb derivative of compar “alike, matching” ( see com-, par 1); replacing Middle English comperen, from Old French comperer, from Latin
Explanation
To compare is to look at two things and see how they are similar and different. People compare all the time. If you look at two products and compare prices, you're looking for the better bargain. It is hard to compare who was the better athlete, Michael Jordan or Billie Jean King, because they played different sports. At a museum, you can compare different paintings. If you like your math teacher better than your history teacher, you're comparing the two. If a TV shows is bad, you could say "it doesn't compare" to your favorite show.
Vocabulary lists containing compare
The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, 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:
The Drimolen fossils also help researchers compare P. robustus populations separated by about 200,000 years.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Keeping your balance on a revolving stage probably sounds easy when you compare it with battling demogorgons, but Gaten Matarazzo points out one big difference.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
“I might use them both to compare or get more information,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The Financial Times reported that the mismatch was due to OpenAI investors trying to directly compare its annualized revenues with rival Anthropic, which determines this number differently.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
I remember a remark Farmer made to me a year ago in these hills: “You should compare suffering. Which suffering is worse. It’s called triage.”
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The Swiss maker of ingredients for the foods and cosmetics industries reported an 8.6% increase in quarterly like-for-like sales, which compares with consensus expectations of 4.7%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
She compares the thought experiment to climate science, in which scientists put forward a range of climate change projections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
To evaluate different routes, the scientists used a measurement called Q, which compares the power produced by fusion reactions with the external heating power supplied to the plasma.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
That compares with a weighted forward price-to-sales estimate of 1.1 for the S&P Small Cap 600.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
And yet none of it compares to what I am about to do in the Dauntless compound.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
For gross margin, it said it sees about 56% for 2026, compared to a previous expectation of a range between 54% and 56%.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
The dollar is at 158.32 yen, compared with Y158.31 late Tuesday in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
After one year, pain scores had improved by 72.7% in the embolization group, compared with 24.2% in the standard care group.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Raman said she has shown concrete results in her Hollywood Hills district, cutting unsheltered homelessness — the number of people living outside or in their cars — by roughly half compared to the previous year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
For thirty years she had worked as a governess in wealthy families and she continually compared our behavior with that of the young ladies and gentlemen she was used to.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
I know comparison is the thief of joy, but how do you stop comparing yourself to the people around you?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The company has described the result as "disappointing", but stressed that comparing individual years was complicated by rainfall levels.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“No, I don’t think so,” Mr. Russell replied, comparing Boulder’s claims to a product liability lawsuit against an auto maker for a defective car.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Spasojevic hopes to be able to gain a clearer answer by comparing DNA samples from local donkeys to DNA collected from populations elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Instinctively I thought, “She is comparing me to Rebecca”; and sharp as a sword the shadow came between us....
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
