concede
Americanverb (used with object)
-
concedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conceded,
past participle, past
-
conceding
present participle
-
to acknowledge as true, just, or proper; admit.
He finally conceded that she was right.
- Synonyms:
- grant
- Antonyms:
- deny
-
to acknowledge (an opponent's victory, score, etc.) before it is officially established.
to concede an election before all the votes are counted.
-
to grant as a right or privilege; yield.
to concede a longer vacation for all employees.
- Antonyms:
- refuse
verb (used without object)
-
concedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conceded,
past participle, past
-
conceding
present participle
verb
-
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to admit or acknowledge (something) as true or correct
-
to yield or allow (something, such as a right)
-
(tr) to admit as certain in outcome
to concede an election
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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concedernoun
-
preconcedeverb (used with object)
-
concessibleadjective
-
unconcedingadjective
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concededlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
concedesimple
-
concedessimple
-
have concededperfect
-
has concededperfect
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am concedingprogressive
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are concedingprogressive
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is concedingprogressive
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have been concedingperfect progressive
-
has been concedingperfect progressive
Past
-
concededsimple
-
had concededperfect
-
was concedingprogressive
-
were concedingprogressive
-
had been concedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of concede
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin concēdere, equivalent to con- con- + cēdere “to withdraw, yield”; see cede
Explanation
If you concede something, you admit that it is true, proper, or certain — usually in an unwilling way and often in the context of a competition, as in "At midnight, the candidate finally conceded defeat." In its most common senses, a near synonym of concede is acknowledge — if your mom is pointing out that you need sleep before the test, you should concede the truth of what she's saying. But another meaning of concede is to give away or grant something, as when an unpopular leader is unwilling to concede power. Concede is from Latin concēdere, from the prefix com-, "completely," plus cēdere, "to go along, grant, yield." The corresponding noun is concession.
Vocabulary lists containing concede
List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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Touching Spirit Bear
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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 vote proved too close to call on Tuesday evening, but by Wednesday morning, El-Sayed had claimed the win, and Stevens had phoned him to concede.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
And on this point, the Norwegians are willing to concede that they are underdogs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
I’m sure some voters take issue with that characterization, and I’ll concede that the range and variety of nominees have been better in recent years than many others.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Spain have a greater control, defensively limit sides to few chances and are still yet to concede.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Her voice became faint, like it became when she knew she had to concede something but thought she could keep the universe from hearing.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Even the abolitionist Death Penalty Information Center concedes that “there is no way to tell how many of the … people executed since 1976 may … have been innocent.”
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
Nobody, Sobel concedes, knows how large that effect is.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Hickman, reached by email by MarketWatch, concedes that he is not sure.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Nouzille concedes that these documents are not "final proof" that Libya was targeting Pan Am 103 flight, but he believes this is evidence of their modus operandi.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“Perhaps,” his father concedes, glancing briefly in Gogol’s direction.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
“We’re not all going to agree on everything,” Crowley conceded to Politico on Thursday.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
AP News reported that Hong had conceded the race to Crowley, and that her campaign manager had said Hong was "proud of the race we ran".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Our physician father finally conceded that tonic water—thanks to drops of quinine—might not be a completely worthless mix of food coloring and empty calories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Zaslav conceded Warner Bros. would release fewer films this year than initially anticipated because some weren’t ready for audiences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Well, maybe it is true,” Qevinger conceded unwillingly in a subdued tone.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
After conceding, Stevens sent a similar signal in a statement:
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Saliba, 25, made 50 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last season and his formidable partnership with team-mate Gabriel was a big factor in them conceding fewer goals than anyone else in the division.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
If IBM can’t tell investors what the next two quarters look like, it’s conceding it doesn’t know when its customers will come back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
"You can shape a treatment to fit the belief system without explicitly endorsing it," French said, conceding an exorcism might even have a beneficial placebo effect in some cases.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
He insisted that the iridium had been deposited by volcanic action even while conceding in a newspaper interview that he had no actual evidence of it.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
