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Synonyms

distinguish

American

[dih-sting-gwish] / dɪˈstɪŋ gwɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

to mark off as different (often followed by from orby ).

He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
to recognize as distinct or different; recognize the salient or individual features or characteristics of.

It is hard to distinguish her from her twin sister.

Antonyms:

confuse
to perceive clearly by sight or other sense; discern; recognize.

He could not distinguish many of the words.
to set apart as different; be a distinctive characteristic of; characterize.

It is his Italian accent that distinguishes him.
to make prominent, conspicuous, or eminent.

to distinguish oneself in battle.
to divide into classes; classify.

Let us distinguish the various types of metaphor.
Archaic. to single out for or honor with special attention.

verb (used without object)

to indicate or show a difference (usually followed bybetween ).
to recognize or note differences; discriminate.

distinguish British

/ dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ /

verb

to make, show, or recognize a difference or differences (between or among); differentiate (between)
to be a distinctive feature of; characterize
to make out; perceive
to mark for a special honour or title
to make (oneself) noteworthy

he distinguished himself by his cowardice
to classify; categorize

we distinguished three species

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Distinguish, differentiate, discriminate suggest an attempt to analyze characteristic features or qualities of things. To distinguish is to recognize the characteristic features belonging to a thing: to distinguish a light cruiser from a heavy cruiser. To discriminate is to perceive the particular, nice, or exact differences between things, to determine wherein these differences consist, and to estimate their significance: to discriminate prejudiced from unprejudiced testimony. To differentiate is to point out exactly and in detail the differences between (usually) two things: The symptoms of both diseases are so similar that it is hard to differentiate one from another.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of distinguish

First recorded in 1555–65; extension, by -ish ², of Middle English disting(u)en (from Anglo-French, Middle French distinguer ), from Latin distinguere; see distinct

Explanation

To distinguish means to tell apart. If you win the lottery, you’re going to need to learn to distinguish between people who really like you and people who like your money. To distinguish is to discern, which means to perceive or recognize the way something differs from what’s around it. It takes discerning taste buds to distinguish between Coke and Pepsi. Distinguish also means to separate yourself out from the pack, usually in a good way. You might distinguish yourself at a Comics Convention with your encyclopedic knowledge of Krazy Kat.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing distinguish

Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List

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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)

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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:

distinguish distinguishes distinguished distinguishing

To make sense of this theoretical point, it’s important to distinguish between stocks’ return while interest rates are rising, and their expected future returns.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

Postpartum psychosis can involve hallucinations and delusions, and her lawyers argued that she was unable to understand the nature of her actions or distinguish right from wrong.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

"The country looks to this court. History, too, will look upon this moment," he said, urging justices to "maintain balance" and distinguish "legal controversy from personal dispute."

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

She hopes attending the Mountain School, which draws high-achieving students from around the country, will help distinguish her college applications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

It is heavier than he had expected, a complicated mechanism of gears partially encased in worn and tarnished silver, with symbols he cannot distinguish etched into the surface.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

"There's nothing that distinguishes them from other bees really, they're not that kind of attention-grabbing species, but, you know, were you to look for them, go to ivy and you'll see them," Benwell said.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“The ability to imagine a different world is what distinguishes the leaders of any social movement,” Linda Greenhouse once wrote of Ginsburg.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

The results suggest that the brain distinguishes between flavor and actual nutritional value.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Like: “I noticed the posted range is fairly broad. Could you help me understand what distinguishes someone at the bottom of it from someone at the top?”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

For the month or so that they are visible, all that distinguishes them from the other stars in the sky is that they occupy a point of space that wasn’t filled before.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

"Stephanie was an extraordinary talent whose long and distinguished career included many iconic performances in theatre and television," the statement read.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as the Smithsonian Chancellor, hailed his "distinguished service," adding: "Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation's story."

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

By eight weeks, their performance could not be statistically distinguished from that of healthy control mice.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

Overdeck distinguished between that compensation and the paper gains he made on the appreciation of his ownership stake in Two Sigma.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

A contemporary philosopher has distinguished between three sorts of facts: brute facts, language-dependent facts and institutional facts.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

She stressed, however, the importance of distinguishing between literary criticism and what often passes for such on social media but which, in her view, amounts to "advertising."

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

I spent the first three paragraphs of a recent column distinguishing between acknowledging failed climate policy and questioning climate science.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

First, practice distinguishing between what the Constitution says and what judges and justices say about the Constitution, a document riddled with aspirational vagaries and flexible abstractions.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

"Bristle worm jaws also showed size-dependent elasticity. This is a distinguishing feature of bio-metals when compared to standard crystalline metals like copper or silver," said author Christian Hellmich.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

Bullhead’s distinguishing civic feature is the Mohave Valley Highway, four lanes of asphalt lined with gas stations and fast-food franchises, chiropractors and video shops, auto-parts outlets and tourist traps.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023