discern
verb (used with object)
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.
had discerned
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past perfectof discern.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
By now it was obvious that the revival of separate national identities which the Queen had discerned in her realm two decades earlier was transforming politics.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2022
He had discerned that the fewer clients he accepted, the more desirable his services would appear.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2021
The U.K.’s most senior counterterrorism police officer, Mark Rowley, said last month that officials had discerned a shift in Islamic State’s tactics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2016
How could they relate to how my stomach churned when I thought a blind date had discerned the truth of how my husband died?
From Time ● Feb. 28, 2014
I had discerned the ways in which we had been sculpted by a tradition given to us by others, a tradition of which we were either willfully or accidentally ignorant.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
