innovate
Americanverb (used without object)
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innovates,
present (3rd person singular)
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innovated,
past participle, past
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innovating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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innovates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
innovated,
past participle, past
-
innovating
present participle
-
to introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time.
to innovate a computer operating system.
-
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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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:
"We innovate every day to combat evolving threats, and we're committed to providing a safe and trusted platform for kids," the former Apple CEO said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
It means holding developers accountable for preventable harms while preserving their ability to innovate.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
As the largest stock market-listed ice cream company in the world, with a market capitalisation of around £8bn, it has the funds to innovate.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
They say the decision is sort of to make space to innovate the live show and incorporate new things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
He is sensible that his business is not to innovate, out to secure and to establish,—that reformations at this day are attempts at best of ambiguous utility.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 05 (of 12) by Edmund Burke
A Nike spokeswoman said that more diverse interests in China plays to Nike’s strengths as a company that innovates across sporting categories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Besson innovates with a subplot about Dracul’s foray into the world of perfume as he develops an intoxicating fragrance in Florence using French lavender, testing the potion on the pre-Revolution socialites in towering white-powdered wigs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
Meta hasn’t been sitting idly by while OpenAI innovates.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2025
Here’s a contrarian thought: That critique misses a wider point about how Apple innovates, because the company has used the project to power a whole ecosystem of products and services that have been unmitigated successes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
But there is no certainty beforehand; and if he fails, he expects blame not because he innovates, but because he has failed by innovating.
From Oxford Lectures on Poetry by Andrew Cecil Bradley
But when the law required greater car safety, companies innovated to create technologies to make cars safer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Further, American growers have not just decreased imports and increased their exports over the years, they’ve also innovated on the plant itself.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
Guardiola innovated and Arteta imagined how the game would adapt.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
In addition to focusing on its flagship Pepsi brand, the company has innovated in various ways as consumers become more interested in health and wellness.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
Tristan und Isolde is an out-and-out masterpiece, with sweeping, yearning themes, deserving of its place in music’s pantheon, whatever it may or may not have innovated.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Long a maker of low-end generic drugs, the country is now home to biotech firms that are innovating fast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
And it isn’t as if Apple stopped innovating entirely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
And the next leg of growth will be driven by niche brands innovating with specific ingredients, dermatologist-backed products and a focus on skin nutrition, say experts.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
“It is during this period that leading companies find ways to differentiate themselves by innovating, delivering new and superior solutions, and driving durable growth. This is where PayPal needs to focus.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
He had two or three pithy sayings, which came straight home to me and became part of my mental furniture, so much so that I have at times given myself the credit of innovating them.
From Tennyson and His Friends by Various
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.
