concede
Americanverb (used with object)
-
concedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conceded,
past participle, past
-
conceding
present participle
-
to acknowledge as true, just, or proper; admit.
He finally conceded that she was right.
- Synonyms:
- grant
- Antonyms:
- deny
-
to acknowledge (an opponent's victory, score, etc.) before it is officially established.
to concede an election before all the votes are counted.
-
to grant as a right or privilege; yield.
to concede a longer vacation for all employees.
- Antonyms:
- refuse
verb (used without object)
-
concedes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
conceded,
past participle, past
-
conceding
present participle
verb
-
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to admit or acknowledge (something) as true or correct
-
to yield or allow (something, such as a right)
-
(tr) to admit as certain in outcome
to concede an election
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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concedernoun
-
preconcedeverb (used with object)
-
concessibleadjective
-
unconcedingadjective
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concededlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
concedesimple
-
concedessimple
-
have concededperfect
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has concededperfect
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am concedingprogressive
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are concedingprogressive
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is concedingprogressive
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have been concedingperfect progressive
-
has been concedingperfect progressive
Past
-
concededsimple
-
had concededperfect
-
was concedingprogressive
-
were concedingprogressive
-
had been concedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of concede
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin concēdere, equivalent to con- con- + cēdere “to withdraw, yield”; see cede
Explanation
If you concede something, you admit that it is true, proper, or certain — usually in an unwilling way and often in the context of a competition, as in "At midnight, the candidate finally conceded defeat." In its most common senses, a near synonym of concede is acknowledge — if your mom is pointing out that you need sleep before the test, you should concede the truth of what she's saying. But another meaning of concede is to give away or grant something, as when an unpopular leader is unwilling to concede power. Concede is from Latin concēdere, from the prefix com-, "completely," plus cēdere, "to go along, grant, yield." The corresponding noun is concession.
Vocabulary lists containing concede
List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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Touching Spirit Bear
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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 concede that the operating environment in France is tough and that dividends will likely be lower in 2027, but point to several positives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Even many of those creating artificial intelligence now concede they can’t say with any degree of certainty that they know what it is doing, why it is doing it or if it is safe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
“We don’t think it’s a bluff,” said Citrini in its report, but it did concede Bessent understands the value of an ability to scare investors into doing his job for him.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
If Liverpool are to be taken seriously, they simply cannot concede goals like that regularly.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
But Hanako raised her chin and refused to concede.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
He concedes that he “kind of went crazy for a little while” in snapping up shoes, owns hundreds of pairs, and it has become a bit of an issue at his Manhattan Beach home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
"Burnham is a more formidable opponent," concedes Tim Montgomerie.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
And he asked Mastro whether he concedes that rent-stabilized apartment owners’ net operating income—a measure of landlord profits that excludes their debt payments—increased.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Even the abolitionist Death Penalty Information Center concedes that “there is no way to tell how many of the … people executed since 1976 may … have been innocent.”
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
He concedes that outrage and hazard do not carry equal weight in his risk equation.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Russia conceded autonomy to Estonia and Ukraine, while Germany accelerated plans to found a Lithuanian state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Brighton's brilliance going forward has come at the cost of them not being particularly solid in defence, with Fabian Hurzeler's team perhaps a little fortunate not to have conceded more often.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison conceded to spending at least $1.5 billion more on domestic production over five years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Critics often say the transition is driving up energy costs, a point White partly conceded.
From Barron's
“Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end,” conceded George.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
India bowlers Krishna and Naman Dhir picked up injuries while paceman Auqib Nabi had a debut to forget - conceding 84 runs, the fourth-most by an Indian winning his first ODI cap.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Yet it is the lack of goals Liverpool are conceding that really deserves highlighting.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Tottenham have failed to win any of their last 36 Premier League matches when conceding first so the writing was on the wall at half-time.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
The German had won all five of their previous matchups, on three different surfaces, while conceding just one set.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Oppenheimer was rare among theorists in conceding value to the uncomplicated perception of nature, free of abstractions, that happened to be Lawrence’s approach.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
