designate
Americanverb (used with object)
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designates,
present (3rd person singular)
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designated,
past participle, past
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designating
present participle
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to mark or point out; indicate; show; specify.
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to denote; indicate; signify.
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to name; entitle; style.
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to nominate or select for a duty, office, purpose, etc.; appoint; assign.
adjective
verb
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to indicate or specify
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to give a name to; style; entitle
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to select or name for an office or duty; appoint
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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designatornoun
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dedesignateverb (used with object)
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redesignateverb (used with object)
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designativeadjective
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designatoryadjective
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nondesignateadjective
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nondesignativeadjective
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undesignatedadjective
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undesignativeadjective
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well-designatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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designatesimple
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designatessimple
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have designatedperfect
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has designatedperfect
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am designatingprogressive
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are designatingprogressive
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is designatingprogressive
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have been designatingperfect progressive
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has been designatingperfect progressive
Past
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designatedsimple
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had designatedperfect
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was designatingprogressive
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were designatingprogressive
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had been designatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of designate
1640–50; < Latin dēsignātus, past participle of dēsignāre. See design, -ate 1
Explanation
To designate is to give something a specific status. If you designate your house an opera-free zone, it means that you've officially declared that no opera is allowed to be played there. To give a person or thing an official status is to designate it as something, like when you designate a meeting place if members of your group get lost at the amusement park. Sometimes, it can carry responsibility or an assignment, like when your teammates designate you as the captain. It can also show a category, like when you designate certain books to the humor section of the bookstore where you work.
Vocabulary lists containing designate
Baseball: A Lexicon
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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:
They’ve already succeeded in convincing the government to designate the Vjosa Narta river area as a national park.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
The third requires the government to consider economic and national security tradeoffs when deciding whether to designate a particular area as "critical habitat."
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
For clients who like to pick stocks, advisers may designate a “play money” bucket.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
The proposal would designate the Buildings Department as the single authority overseeing requirements from all other involved agencies so developers aren’t subject to repetitive paperwork and delays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
“By the power of the superglue beer sword, I hereby designate you my driver!”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
The U.S. rightly designates GPS as critical infrastructure, but the reference frame that gives every GPS signal its meaning enjoys no such protection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Known as the Record of Emergency Data, this form designates that beneficiaries get $100,000 tax-free cash and any unreceived payments after a servicemember dies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Second, the order designates as an organization something the FBI’s past leadership has described as an ideology.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
China’s latest Five-Year Plan explicitly designates it as one of seven “future industries” set to drive national growth.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
To initiate spatial teleportation, the traveler enters the STM with the EGG and designates their chosen timeprint.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Saul said that even if targets could be identified as members of designated terrorist groups, they had not staged an armed attack on the US which would trigger a right to self-defence under international law.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
With a runner on second and one out, he pitched to a full count against designated hitter Victor Bericoto.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
One scheme was built on a site that had been designated for 1,000 homes, but was sold to a data centre company as part of the council's attempt to clear its debts.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The U.S. has designated Myanmar scholar and American citizen Min Zin as wrongfully detained following his arrest in China on espionage charges, framing his case for upcoming high-level bilateral talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
It is to be a kitchen election: since no one can read, every candidate is designated by a symbol.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
The U.S. held a near-monopoly on the gas, designating it a strategic resource and prohibiting its exportation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Deukmejian vetoed the bill, though Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2024 designating the slimy yellow creature as the official state slug.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
"It is the first model we are designating at this level, and requires stronger safeguards during development and before release," the blog said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
On his first day back in office, US President Donald Trump announced he would increase pressure on Mexico and the cartels, including designating the criminal enterprises terrorist groups.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
“What were your instructions,” Eldon Rosen asked, “if you wound up designating a human as android?”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
