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

She should read labels, mistrust mysterious additives, interrogate old nutritional orthodoxies and learn to distinguish “real” food from whatever came before it.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

According to the researchers, this is the first evidence that dogs can distinguish among specific negative human facial expressions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

"Dogs can distinguish between positive emotions and all the others, but they don't seem to be able to distinguish between the different negative emotions," Hernández-Pérez, also at the University of Vienna, told BBC News.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Airlines are competing fiercely to distinguish themselves when it comes to wine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

“Once more, how do you know? By what instinct do you pretend to distinguish between a fallen seraph of the abyss and a messenger from the eternal throne—between a guide and a seducer?”

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

This absence distinguishes Silescelida acristata from nearly all of its close relatives.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 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

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

What distinguishes that summit above the earthly line, is that it is unhandselled, awful, grand.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

"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

He is a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a fellow in social thought at the University of Dallas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Fellow “garden-lovers” and even some distinguished natural philosophers welcomed the work of this “ingenious woman,” for many of these metamorphoses had never been observed before.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Dr. Mary K. Mulcahey, chief of sports medicine at Loyola University Medical Center, who specializes in shoulder and knee injuries, said AI would likely have a hard time distinguishing between different types of meniscus tears.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Identifying species correctly, determining whether the caregiving individual is male or female, and distinguishing true parental care from similar behaviors such as mate guarding all require specialized expertise.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

But the market may be growing savvier about distinguishing between companies at risk of disruption and those set to benefit from AI.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

We got very good at listening for the sound of airplane engines and distinguishing the sounds of enemy bombers from friendly cargo transports.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

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