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

Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List

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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

He accepted AI was used "to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images".

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Many consumers struggle to distinguish between minimally processed and highly processed products due to confusing labels and marketing practices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

For instance, the system uses recognizable sounds, known as auditory icons, to tell caregivers what the problem is, so they can distinguish it immediately.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Maintaining measurements over extended periods helps researchers distinguish temporary variability from persistent changes in the underlying circulation.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

A failure to distinguish these senses, and to ask which of them the first users of the term ‘the Scientific Revolution’ had in mind, has caused a tremendous amount of confusion.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

“CoreWeave has established a reputation for reliability and performance that distinguishes it from peers,” Keirstead added.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

"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

Researchers at the LMS, Imperial and UCL wanted to understand where these cells are located in untreated tumors, what distinguishes them and which other cells tend to surround them.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026

The experience of frustration distinguishes humans from machines, at least for now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The only thing that distinguishes one hallway from another, here, is their length.

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

What has distinguished Justice Thomas as a jurist, however, isn’t merely his longevity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

While one might argue that those are original titles of distinguished quality, it’s unfair to write off “Resident Evil” simply because it’s a game adaptation.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Diane Wolfe does not believe the vigango need to be repatriated, but she distinguished that from her willingness to see portions of the broader collection return to Africa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

In a statement, Harper Adams' vice-chancellor, professor Ken Sloan, said he is "delighted" to see "distinguished people" from Shropshire and specialist industries being recognised.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

With his neatly groomed white beard and distinguished features, he had the bearing of a holy tzaddik.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Often companies have a hard time distinguishing which is which.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

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

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

“The only one we currently employ. The only one capable of distinguishing the new Nexus-6 brain unit. You haven’t heard of this test?”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

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