recommend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
recommends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recommended,
past participle, past
-
recommending
present participle
-
to present as worthy of confidence, acceptance, use, etc.; commend; mention favorably.
to recommend an applicant for a job; to recommend a book.
- Antonyms:
- condemn
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to represent or urge as advisable or expedient.
to recommend caution.
-
to advise, as an alternative; suggest (a choice, course of action, etc.) as appropriate, beneficial, or the like.
He recommended the blue-plate special. The doctor recommended special exercises for her.
- Synonyms:
- counsel
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to make desirable or attractive.
a plan that has very little to recommend it.
verb (used without object)
-
recommends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recommended,
past participle, past
-
recommending
present participle
noun
verb
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(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to advise as the best course or choice; counsel
to recommend prudence
-
to praise or commend
to recommend a new book
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to make attractive or advisable
the trip has little to recommend it
-
archaic to entrust (a person or thing) to someone else's care; commend
Usage
Spelling tips for recommend The word recommend is hard to spell because it is tricky to know whether the c, the m, and/or the n is doubled. How to spell recommend: The easiest way to remember how to spell recommend is to break it into three parts: re - com - mend. You can keep these three sections in mind with the sentence: "I recommend that you rely commonly on mending."
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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recommendernoun
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prerecommendverb (used with object)
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recommendableadjective
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unrecommendableadjective
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unrecommendedadjective
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well-recommendedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recommendsimple
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recommendssimple
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have recommendedperfect
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has recommendedperfect
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am recommendingprogressive
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are recommendingprogressive
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is recommendingprogressive
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have been recommendingperfect progressive
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has been recommendingperfect progressive
Past
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recommendedsimple
-
had recommendedperfect
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was recommendingprogressive
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were recommendingprogressive
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had been recommendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recommend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English recommenden, from Medieval Latin recommendāre; equivalent to re- + commend
Explanation
If you recommend a person or thing is to vouch for them. Recommend can also be to advise. If your doctor recommended an exercise program to you that's changed your life, you might recommend your doctor to your friends. Recommend is connected to the verb commend "to praise." They are both spelled with one c and two m's, reflecting the prefixes re- and com-. These verbs overlap in some uses: you can recommend or commend an applicant for employment. But commend is used for special or public praise: "He was commended for bravery."
Vocabulary lists containing recommend
"the insanity of selling junk food"
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Excerpt from "Bad Boy"
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Encourage
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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:
They also say future studies should use wearable technology to track physical activity more precisely and help determine the most effective amount of stair climbing to recommend.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
He continues to recommend buying AI as an equity theme — the “hubris trade” of staying long AI stocks through the bubble.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
It’s immersive, character-driven and stylish; a spiky, enjoyable piece of filmmaking that is wholly distinctive and hasn’t had all its personality sanded down, the kind of movie you could recommend to anyone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
And speaking of word games … For a juicy twist on a game involving the letters of the alphabet, may we recommend Slate’s Pears?
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
He had no qualifications to recommend him, but there was at least a chance he could hire onto a merchant convoy and work his way there.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Royal recommends investors consider locking in historically high yields in investment-grade corporate bonds by building a ladder of investments with staggered maturities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Wells Fargo recommends stocks in the tech, industrials and financial services sectors as spending on artificial intelligence trickles down into the rest of the economy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
In a burrito city like L.A., prices can range dramatically, such as Burritos La Palma’s $5 homestyle burritos, where the menu recommends ordering two or three per person for a satisfying meal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
So she has a hack she recommends to people within a few minutes of their first meeting: Put a recurring event on your personal calendar and label it “work on finances.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Vincent tells Theo to give Bague his best if he sees him, and he recommends two other paintings Bague might like: a vineyard and a night sky.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Brilliant Earth in a statement said it continues to participate in public conversations across the platform and manages its own subreddit, an approach it says Reddit recommended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the United States, however, a panel recommended loosening restrictions on a range of peptides last month.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
And it's continuing - social media posts, actively recommended by Instagram's algorithm, are advertising another attempt at the crossing this weekend.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The board recommended that four of the five acquitted players remain suspended from all Hockey Canada-sanctioned programmes.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
A resemblance in good humour and good spirits had recommended her and Lydia to each other, and out of their three months’ acquaintance they had been intimate two.
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Others have been quoting Clement Attlee, recommending "a period of silence".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
His videos don’t stop at recommending where to eat.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Similarly, in 2025, comedian John Mulaney also began recommending books on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Although NDR’s longer-term growth-versus-value models now favor value by the widest margin in five years, the firm isn’t recommending investors rush into the trade.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
On August 11, he drafted a memo to John Ehrlichman recommending: “A covert operation be undertaken to examine all the medical files still held by Ellsberg’s psychoanalyst.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
