discern
Americanverb (used with object)
-
discerns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
discerned,
past participle, past
-
discerning
present participle
-
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.
They discerned a sail on the horizon.
-
to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate.
He is incapable of discerning right from wrong.
- Synonyms:
- judge, differentiate
verb (used without object)
-
discerns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
discerned,
past participle, past
-
discerning
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to recognize or perceive clearly
-
to recognize or perceive (differences)
Usage
What does discern mean? Discern means to recognize small details, accurately tell the difference between similar things, and make intelligent judgements by using such observations. The ability to do this or the process of doing it is called discernment, as in Only through careful discernment can you tell a genuine artifact from the work of a counterfeiter. Things that can be identified or distinguished in such a way can be described as discernible. The adjective discerning can be used to describe someone who has the ability to discern or to describe such an ability, as in Most chefs have a very discerning palate. A close synonym is discriminating. The verb discriminate can be used to mean the same thing as discern (discriminate also commonly means to treat in a prejudicial way, which is not one of the senses of discern). Example: These two scents may smell identical to the average person, but an experienced perfumer can discern the difference between them.
Synonym Usage
See notice.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
discernsimple
-
discernssimple
-
have discernedperfect
-
has discernedperfect
-
am discerningprogressive
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are discerningprogressive
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is discerningprogressive
-
have been discerningperfect progressive
-
has been discerningperfect progressive
Past
-
discernedsimple
-
had discernedperfect
-
was discerningprogressive
-
were discerningprogressive
-
had been discerningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discern
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin discernere “to separate,” from dis- dis- 1 + cernere “to decide, separate, sift”
Explanation
If you can make out, pick out, or distinguish something, you can discern it. This is a word for recognizing and perceiving things. Discerning has to do with being able to see or hear something. In a loud room, it can be hard to discern one person's voice. If there's not much light, you'll have trouble discerning the words on a page well enough to read. If you have sloppy handwriting, then it's hard to discern what you wrote. When you can discern something, you can tell what it is; you can identify it.
Vocabulary lists containing discern
Things Fall Apart
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Romeo and Juliet
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Grade 10, List 5
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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:
Enlander said finding "a buried skull, without any other bone present" presented a problem in trying to discern what happened.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“Traditionally, it isn’t so much about somebody being more moderate,” he said, in part because voters can’t always discern moderation among candidates of an opposing party.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
You don’t need a high school diploma to discern this as a treatment benefit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Is that really what viewers want, to not be able to discern reality, even with all its limitations?
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
They made their way up its winding path, and even from there he could already discern the temple itself.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Here and elsewhere, Ms. Chan brings artists and their audience to life in a few telling lines, and discerns music-sharing motivations in brushstrokes, embroidery and regalia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
They follow her around the bend and behind the castle, where we see a kitchen set up, and everyone immediately discerns there will be a cook-off.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2023
Through his meditations on William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” Nemo discerns that liberation can only be attained through creation.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
Right up to today, Mead’s keen eye discerns strategies and patterns that may have gone unnoticed.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2022
There are three kinds of intelligence: one understands on its own; the second discerns what others understand; and the third neither understands by itself nor through others.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Only so much about the subjects who are made the focus of the program can be discerned from flimsy data that’s some 2,000 years old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The 1924 Immigration Act limited immigration so drastically, that it can be discerned by a distinct bend in the chart of US annual population growth.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Myanmar has a rich culture of fortune-telling, and many believe the future can be discerned by mystics.
From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025
While it has not yet been discerned whether the tape was taken during the March raids, a source asserted, "They are contacting people that they’ve found on the tapes."
From Salon ● May 29, 2024
Next to it, I discerned the air-lock corridor, the gray zone through which the soldiers had passed into the hot zone.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
According to Tim Mackey, a professor of global health at the University of California, San Diego, A.I. responses appear to be getting better at summarizing research, weighing credibility, and discerning misinformation.
From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026
Now that we have fallen straight through the looking glass of the internet, that gap has narrowed to the extent that we are having far greater difficulty discerning reality from its uncanny simulations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
But many of the degrees they graduate with don’t prepare them adequately for top-tier jobs at big companies, while young people are growing more discerning about the jobs they want.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
I completed one slow circuit, attempting to look discerning.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Despite these precautions, from the very first day, the headmistress had no trouble discerning the eccentricities of her new pupil.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
