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
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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
The court system would have to step in and officially designate the guardian, checking criminal backgrounds first.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 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
“We wear seven different colors, to designate our jobs. As a maintenance technician, my deck jersey, float coat, and helmet are an ugly green, the color of overcooked peas.”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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
As a terrorism scholar who spent a decade running the State Department office that designates terrorist organizations, I understand their confusion.
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
The case stems from a broader legal dispute over the renaming of the cultural institution, which US law designates as a memorial to President John F Kennedy.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
I look up and see Plutarch Heavensbee in the magnificent purple robe with the fur-trimmed collar that designates him as Head Gamemaker.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
While having a power of attorney designated for a person who is suffering cognitive decline is an absolute necessity, having them declared incompetent by a court is not.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Her family spoke to the assistance desk and was taken to the only designated wheelchair space on the train.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The house has also taken on male ambassadors this year, including actor Pedro Pascal, but still has no officially designated men's line.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
He has concentrated more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and has designated no successor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Hiding ten boys in the bushes was not easy, but somehow Fadi and the others hunkered down behind the leafy branches while Ravi stood near the designated meeting spot.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
The details around his physical condition are particularly consequential because Xi has concentrated extraordinary power in his hands while designating no successor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 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
In 2025, the Onion ran a spoof headline imagining the State Department designating the league a terrorist organization.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
It contained his own notes on Spassky’s games, jotted in pencil, with comments and question marks designating poor moves, exclamation marks designating good ones.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
