congregate
Americanverb (used without object)
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congregates,
present (3rd person singular)
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congregated,
past participle, past
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congregating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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congregates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
congregated,
past participle, past
-
congregating
present participle
adjective
-
congregated; assembled.
-
formed by collecting; collective.
verb
adjective
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collected together; assembled
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relating to collecting; collective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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congregativenessnoun
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congregatornoun
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decongregateverb
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congregativeadjective
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noncongregativeadjective
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uncongregatedadjective
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uncongregativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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congregatesimple
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congregatessimple
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have congregatedperfect
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has congregatedperfect
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am congregatingprogressive
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are congregatingprogressive
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is congregatingprogressive
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have been congregatingperfect progressive
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has been congregatingperfect progressive
Past
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congregatedsimple
-
had congregatedperfect
-
was congregatingprogressive
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were congregatingprogressive
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had been congregatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of congregate
1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin congregātus (past participle of congregāre to flock together), equivalent to con- con- + greg- (stem of grex ) flock + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Congregate is a verb that means to come together, to assemble, or to gather. At school dances, you may congregate with your friends, because you get nervous in front of kids you don't know very well. Congregate comes from Latin root words com, meaning "together" and gregare, meaning "to gather in a flock." Congregation, or a gathering or assembly, comes from the same roots, as does gregarious, an adjective describing someone who likes to gather with others to socialize. If you remember the key word is flock — what ministers often call their congregations — you should have no trouble remembering congregate means to flock together.
Vocabulary lists containing congregate
Power Prefix: con-
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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:
Young people congregate for early-morning yoga sessions in Lululemon shops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
If you don’t offer food to wild birds, they will be less likely to congregate in your backyard or garden.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
"They know where the species congregate and where the nursery grounds are."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
By 2021, they reached South Tufa, where tourists congregate to gaze at the rock formations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
By nightfall, when the boys Rab had selected began silently to congregate in the office of the Observer, behind locked doors, the rain stopped.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Teams that sign free agents or make blockbuster trades during the few days everyone of importance in the MLB universe congregates under one luxury hotel roof get out-sized applause for their moves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2024
Instead, this 21st Century fanbase congregates more politely on TikTok, Instagram and X, where the hashtag that brings fans, Liam memes, and Bonehead jokes together, is #oasistwt.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2024
In the last year, she’s found a welcoming home in the Edinburgh folk music scene that congregates around Captains Bar.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
In many parts of the deepest ocean, life congregates around seeps—vents in the sea floor where gasses leak out from Earth’s innards and fuel microbial growth, attracting communities of deep-sea invertebrates.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 8, 2022
The day's last flock of gray birds congregates above the seedheads of spent wildflowers and launches across the yellow green into a slate-blue sky.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
Dozens of young people congregated at Nepal's burnt-out parliament building on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of deadly anti-corruption protests that toppled the former government.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
As the top stars congregated in New York for last year's US Open, Arthur Fery was looking in from the outside.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
And he liked having meals with his family at what is now the Denny’s in Gower Gulch, a place where aspiring cowboy actors once congregated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
With two hours to go, the eclipse-hunters congregated on the westward-facing slope of Picón, clutching the glasses that would make it safe to look at the sun’s corona.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The humans had congregated in the wreckage that used to be a hallway.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
So to discourage them from congregating, simply provide less food.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Authorities in Mexico City say they will again erect screens along the Paseo de la Reforma, the capital’s iconic thoroughfare, but will space them out to keep crowds from congregating at a single point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
It also said the shop had been reported as a serious nuisance with cars pulling up and parking on double yellow lines, groups of people congregating outside the premises, plus issues with litter and noise.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
AIS data showed the "vast majority" of vessels congregating in the East China Sea appeared to be from the eastern province of Zhejiang, where several maritime militia ports are located, said Poling.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
That butchery business was long ago; surely by now the sharks would be out of the habit of congregating here.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
