correlate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
noun
verb
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to place or be placed in a mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relationship
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(tr) to establish or show a correlation
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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intercorrelateverb (used with object)
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correlatableadjective
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noncorrelatingadjective
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uncorrelatedadjective
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uncorrelatedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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correlatesimple
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correlatessimple
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have correlatedperfect
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has correlatedperfect
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am correlatingprogressive
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are correlatingprogressive
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is correlatingprogressive
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have been correlatingperfect progressive
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has been correlatingperfect progressive
Past
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correlatedsimple
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had correlatedperfect
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was correlatingprogressive
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were correlatingprogressive
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had been correlatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of correlate
First recorded in 1635–45; probably back formation from correlation and correlative
Explanation
If you notice that crumbs appear on your little brother's shirt whenever the cookies disappear from the cookie jar, you can say that you've correlated two facts, meaning that you've established or revealed that they're linked in a way that explains both of them. Detectives correlate pieces of evidence in order to solve crimes. For example, they might correlate a suspect’s bandaged hand with a shattered third-floor window. Correlate can also be used as a noun. Some companies promote products by suggesting that their products increase “happiness correlates,” or factors that have been shown to have a relationship with happiness, like health and friendship.
Vocabulary lists containing correlate
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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:
Kendall says problems with heat "directly correlate with when pupils are expected to be at their peak with exams".
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
DBS economists said producer prices likely rose on the back of higher raw-material costs, which tend to correlate closely with oil prices that have surged amid the Middle East conflict.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
The vertical integration of the lighting, the merch, how those imagistic components correlate to the music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
These differences are often explained by how stocks co-move, or correlate, with a set of identifiable risk factors.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
The book was filled with complicated sentences explaining Henrietta’s cells by saying, “its atypical histology may correlate with the unusually malignant behavior of the carcinoma,” and something about the “correlate of the tumor’s singularity.”
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Meanwhile, the slight dip in unemployment correlates with a decline in labor-force participation.
From Slate ● Apr. 3, 2026
That correlates with the theory that higher participation rates draw in struggling workers who would otherwise not have saved at all, and then have to take money out when they have shocks.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026
If time is money, and money is power, then who these characters spend their time with directly correlates to how wealthy and financially secure they can become.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
"It correlates strongly with countless athletic advantages, like size, muscle mass, bone mass and heart and lung capacity."
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2026
This process correlates with the age of a person: the older we are, the shorter our telomeres, and the fewer times our cells have left to divide before they die.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
They are more closely correlated with next year’s oil futures than with today’s “spot” prices.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
That will in turn weigh on user growth which is correlated with its services business, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
"Our number of calls tracks the temperature - it's a very correlated trend," says Dr John Martin, chief executive of the South West Ambulance Service.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
“Local-currency debt of highly liquid countries that are positively correlated with oil is rare,” Vontobel’s de Sousa says.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
From this jumble, he must determine which factors are correlated and which are not.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
That metric’s rise was a strong signal to buy TJX in the prepandemic era, correlating with its rise to dominance in off-price.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
I reached similar results when correlating the total market value of each year’s IPOs and the stock market’s subsequent 10-year return, as you can see in the chart above.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
Mr. Stob, a professor of communication studies at Vanderbilt University, points out that “the idea of correlating outward appearance with interior mental abilities had been around for millennia.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
“There’s no pathogenic bacteria correlating us to anybody,” said McAfee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2026
He found that the only tests correlating closely with ability in the practical work were those for memory span, tactile and muscular sensibility, sustained attention, and equality of strength in the two hands.
From Vocational Psychology: Its Problems and Methods by Hollingworth, Harry L.
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.
