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
Genstar will be entitled to designate two directors to Victory Capital’s board, which will expand to 11 members upon closing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The court system would have to step in and officially designate the guardian, checking criminal backgrounds first.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Christian mystics devoted much energy to deciphering the number 666, said by John the Apostle to designate the name of the Beast of the Apocalypse, the Antichrist.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
An early sign of how serious Beijing will be about the AI talks will be whom it designates to lead such a dialogue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The White House official said Dans is one of two commission members the law designates as representatives of “the interests of industry.”
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026
The case stemmed 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 ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Five-Year Plan designates quantum as one of seven frontier technologies, with coordinated commercialization efforts focused on a smaller set of institutions.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
Goss used the pronoun that designates a male animal, not the pronoun for a human being in the masculine role of kemmer.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Some games which are designated "high risk" have sales suspended in and around the stadium.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
A designated lot for rideshare and taxi service will move from its space near Terminal 1 to an area near the Metro center after the People Mover opens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
The FDA designated Galleri as a breakthrough device in 2018.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
The federal government redrew flood maps across America this summer — and it could mean bigger housing bills for homeowners who now live in newly designated flood zones.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Not in class or anything, but maybe there could be some roped-off area on campus designated for screaming your cares away.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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
Its actions Tuesday included designating a Turkish company it said helped Mahan ship goods including drone components to Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 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
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.
