innovate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time.
to innovate a computer operating system.
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Archaic. to alter.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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innovatesimple
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innovatessimple
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have innovatedperfect
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has innovatedperfect
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am innovatingprogressive
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are innovatingprogressive
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is innovatingprogressive
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have been innovatingperfect progressive
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has been innovatingperfect progressive
Past
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innovatedsimple
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had innovatedperfect
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was innovatingprogressive
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were innovatingprogressive
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had been innovatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of innovate
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin innovātus, past participle of innovāre “to renew, alter,” equivalent to in- intensive prefix + novātus, past participle of novā(re) “to renew,” verbal derivative of novus “new” + -tus past participle suffix); see in- 2, new
Explanation
Innovate means to bring something new to something. If you love cranberry seltzers, you might innovate by adding limeade or by making the drink with cran-raspberry juice instead. In our culture obsessed with finding the next new thing, the word innovate is very popular––behind every "new and improved" label slapped onto the packaging of some perfectly useful product is some eager beaver buried in the ranks of a company, scheming ways to innovate.
Vocabulary lists containing innovate
A Résumé of Active Words
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Academic Vocabulary, Units 4–6
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Chirp
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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.
The mismatch bodes ill for an economy already in crisis and struggling to innovate.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
A senior executive at Amazon said in an internal note last October that the company needed to be organised "more leanly" because AI was "enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before."
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
Some past attempts to innovate, from selling bottled drinks to what Coke called a “Freestyle” soda dispenser that let customers create their own mixes, have sputtered.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 13, 2026
The markets, guided by the incentive to innovate, should decide how railroads organize their work.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
It is not indeed possible to make a law which does not innovate, more or less, in the government.
From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part F. From Charles II. to James II. by Hume, David
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.
