distinguish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to mark off as different (often followed by from orby ).
He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
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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
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to perceive clearly by sight or other sense; discern; recognize.
He could not distinguish many of the words.
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to set apart as different; be a distinctive characteristic of; characterize.
It is his Italian accent that distinguishes him.
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to make prominent, conspicuous, or eminent.
to distinguish oneself in battle.
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to divide into classes; classify.
Let us distinguish the various types of metaphor.
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Archaic. to single out for or honor with special attention.
verb (used without object)
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to indicate or show a difference (usually followed bybetween ).
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to recognize or note differences; discriminate.
verb
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to make, show, or recognize a difference or differences (between or among); differentiate (between)
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to be a distinctive feature of; characterize
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to make out; perceive
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to mark for a special honour or title
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to make (oneself) noteworthy
he distinguished himself by his cowardice
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to classify; categorize
we distinguished three species
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
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distinguishernoun
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distinguishmentnoun
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redistinguishverb
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interdistinguishverb (used with object)
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predistinguishverb (used with object)
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distinguishableadjective
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distinguishingadjective
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distinguishablyadverb
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distinguishinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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distinguishsimple
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distinguishessimple
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have distinguishedperfect
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has distinguishedperfect
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am distinguishingprogressive
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are distinguishingprogressive
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is distinguishingprogressive
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have been distinguishingperfect progressive
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has been distinguishingperfect progressive
Past
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distinguishedsimple
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had distinguishedperfect
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was distinguishingprogressive
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were distinguishingprogressive
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had been distinguishingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing distinguish
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Vocabulary of the Common Core
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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:
"We show that enculturated chimpanzees can distinguish crystals from other stones," said lead author Prof Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, an Ikerbasque Research Professor on crystallography at the Donostia International Physics Center in San Sebastián.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
It can be difficult to distinguish where an arrangement ends and an assemblage begins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Laidlaw said: "He was in a psychotic state and had lost contact with reality. He was not able to distinguish what was real and what was not. He was hearing voices and had delusional beliefs."
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
“The broader stock ownership becomes, the more difficult it may be for the Federal Reserve to distinguish between supporting financial stability and supporting the stock market itself,” Balchunas wrote in the report.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
Nothing to distinguish this house from the replicas of it on either side.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The paper distinguishes between highly specific properties and broader categories.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
It distinguishes Marvell from companies that may have seen explosive increases in their market caps over a short span but that might struggle to maintain those levels in a normalized environment.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
The business logic underpinning all of it is a subscription model that distinguishes the Times sharply from traditional game companies.
From Barron's ● May 16, 2026
No objective cutoff distinguishes ordinary worry from clinical anxiety, or grief from clinical depression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
What distinguishes that summit above the earthly line, is that it is unhandselled, awful, grand.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
The i Weekend says the prime minister and political leaders remember Widdecombe as a "distinguished politician", with the paper remarking she "delighted millions" when she appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2010.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Major League Baseball reserves a potential All-Star roster spot or two each summer for distinguished players: Bryce Harper and Justin Verlander this year, Clayton Kershaw last year, Pujols and Miguel Cabrera in past years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
That raises serious questions about the way ChatGPT’s personal-finance feature is marketed, because it’s distinguished by its ability to provide highly tailored guidance based on the amount of context you provide.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
For decades, Congress has distinguished between direct donations to candidates and independent spending by individuals or groups during political campaigns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Still, complete technical command is a requisite of masterpieces, which are distinguished by their superior execution.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
Inspecting roofs, especially distinguishing between wind and hail damage, involves a certain degree of subjective judgment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
We then used artificial intelligence to classify each document match, distinguishing meaningful contact with Epstein from accidental mentions.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
There is also value in distinguishing between information and action — research on perceived control and stress consistently shows that the gap between awareness and agency is one of the strongest predictors of psychological distress.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 16, 2026
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has focused on distinguishing between disappearances committed by organized crime and those forced by state agents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The distinguishing feature of the document when it came to slavery was its evasiveness.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
