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.

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Vocabulary lists containing distinguish

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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

The social media age — sometimes dubbed Web 2.0 to distinguish it from the less openly interactive earlier era of the internet — seemed to supercharge this impromptu rezoning of the information superhighway.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

To distinguish Japanese beef from Wagyu produced elsewhere, the Japan Meat Grading Association created the A5 label, which is given only to the highest-quality Japanese cuts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

"It's important to distinguish between the ability to win an election and to win a social-media narrative," Pal says.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Broadcasters, the government explained in a fact sheet, should not air “false” information and should distinguish between fact and opinion, publicity and news.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

In the lowering dusk Taran could barely distinguish the man from the tree; and could have walked within a pace of him before realizing he was any more than a splotch of shadow.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

“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

It is the only book with language that distinguishes which purchases fund FLAG’s mission or pay Adams directly.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 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

The paper distinguishes between highly specific properties and broader categories.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

This is the element that distinguishes applied science from basic.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

"I'm really more of a paleoecologist, paleogeographer, not a taxonomist," says Dr. Cruz, who noticed unusual features in the Tar Pits specimens that distinguished S. labreae from known spadefoot toads.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

When the app launched 2014, founder and boss Whitney Wolfe Herd said it distinguished itself from rivals like Tinder by allowing women to "make the first move".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Mark Joseph Stern: In your column at the end of this most recent term, you distinguished between the Supreme Court’s power to say what the law is after Marbury v.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

“We have never seen a growth rate this high,” John-David Lovelock, a distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, told the WSJ Leadership Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Even in those early postwar years, Harvey distinguished himself with "an excellent knowledge of Russian espionage and Communist activities," according to a former colleague.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Instead they take still images of vehicles, capturing the make, model, color, license plate data and other distinguishing features such as bumper stickers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

Kalshi’s latest oddball ad takes a more explanatory approach than its recent spots, explicitly distinguishing prediction markets from traditional sportsbooks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 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

Inspecting roofs, especially distinguishing between wind and hail damage, involves a certain degree of subjective judgment.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

An intense stubbornness seemed to be his distinguishing feature.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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