invent
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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.
The announcement came amid Amazon’s AWS re: Invent event taking place in Las Vegas this week.
From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025
Invent a coordinate system where the ship’s bow—the single most important reference point in this Seussian landscape—serves as the axis around which everything else is oriented.
From Scientific American • May 27, 2022
And, of course, he introduced the idea for Invent the Summer to his family.
From Washington Times • Jun. 26, 2019
The advertising campaign has been rolled out before AWS’ other main effort to advertise its wares: its annual conference, called re: Invent, held in Las Vegas.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2017
What else indeed can such as they Invent to pass their time away?
From Poems by Stoddard, John L. (John Lawson)
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.
