invent
Americanverb (used with object)
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invents,
present (3rd person singular)
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invented,
past participle, past
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inventing
present participle
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to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance.
to invent the telegraph.
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to produce or create with the imagination.
to invent a story.
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to make up or fabricate (something fictitious or false).
to invent excuses.
- Synonyms:
- concoct
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Archaic. to come upon; find.
verb
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to create or devise (new ideas, machines, etc)
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to make up (falsehoods); fabricate
Synonym Usage
See discover.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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outinventverb (used with object)
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preinventverb (used with object)
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inventableadjective
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inventibleadjective
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self-inventedadjective
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uninventedadjective
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well-inventedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inventsimple
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inventssimple
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have inventedperfect
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has inventedperfect
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am inventingprogressive
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are inventingprogressive
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is inventingprogressive
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have been inventingperfect progressive
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has been inventingperfect progressive
Past
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inventedsimple
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had inventedperfect
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was inventingprogressive
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were inventingprogressive
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had been inventingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of invent
First recorded in 1425–75; back formation from late Middle English invented (past participle) “found, discovered,” from Latin invent(us) “encountered” (past participle of invenīre “to come upon, encounter, find,” from in- in- 2 + venīre “to come”; see also come) + -ed 2
Explanation
To invent is to create for the first time or make up. If you tell your friends that you invented the electric guitar, you are inventing a pretty unbelievable story about your past. When you think of the word invent, think of Thomas Alva Edison who invented the long-lasting light bulb, the motion picture camera, the phonograph, and the stock ticker. That's a lot of inventions! You couldn't invent a better story of American ingenuity, could you?
Vocabulary lists containing invent
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:
“For example, compaction summaries included instructions to invent missing historical data without disclosing it and to hide mismatches in source versions,” wrote OpenAI.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Generative AI systems are known for their ability to "hallucinate" and assert falsehoods as fact, even sometimes invent sources for inaccurate information.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The lack of concrete information, as well as the fact that Bourdain himself used writerly flare to describe his young antics, gave the filmmakers room to invent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“She had to invent herself … she is making up her life as she goes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
It is the kind you invent in your head because you need to.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Frankie invents a new nonsensical insult, calling Molly’s boyfriend Josh “such a customer.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
"Our work is a prime example of how evolution seldom invents things from scratch," says Daniel Kronauer, head of the Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior at Rockefeller.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
What’s your role in “The Miniature Wife”? I play Lindy Littlejohn, whose spouse invents technology that shrinks fresh produce and, accidentally, me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
In 2052, a celebrated neuroscientist invents an affordable panacea for suffering that’s soon embraced by the entire human race.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2025
Someone invents something and puts it to use.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The confusion of the term’s meaning extends back to its origin—because, in fact, it was invented as the result of a communication error.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
The last detail was not exactly invented from whole cloth.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Big Pharma firms have cut license deals worth tens of billions of dollars for cancer drugs invented in China.
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Even the Prince of Bavaria—whose family invented Oktoberfest—was turned away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Elizebeth’s own favorite term for her profession was cryptanalyst, a word her husband invented.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
The adults would engage in animated conversation, usually about current events, while we, the dozen or so kids, kept ourselves busy inventing games.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
Early in the previous century, a classics teacher writing under her first and middle names, Richmal Crompton, began inventing tales of the pesky 11-year-old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
And Perlis’ storytelling skills make it seem like good fun as he pingpongs from artist to artist, each somehow inventing a meaningful, or at least recognizable, cultural touchstone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
"We are too often good at inventing technologies but too slow at turning them into global companies," said EU lawmaker Axel Voss, who has pushed for Europe's technological sovereignty.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
When it comes to evidence, the new science was not inventing new concepts but recycling existing ones.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
