consist
Americanverb (used without object)
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consists,
present (3rd person singular)
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consisted,
past participle, past
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consisting
present participle
-
to be made up or composed (usually followed byof ).
This cake consists mainly of sugar, flour, and butter.
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to be comprised or contained (usually followed byin ).
Her charm does not consist only in her beauty.
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Archaic. to exist together or be capable of existing together.
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Obsolete. to insist; urge.
noun
verb
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(foll by of) to be composed (of); be formed (of)
syrup consists of sugar and water
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to have its existence (in); lie (in); be expressed (by)
his religion consists only in going to church
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to be compatible or consistent; accord
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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consistsimple
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consistssimple
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have consistedperfect
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has consistedperfect
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am consistingprogressive
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are consistingprogressive
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is consistingprogressive
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have been consistingperfect progressive
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has been consistingperfect progressive
Past
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consistedsimple
-
had consistedperfect
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was consistingprogressive
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were consistingprogressive
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had been consistingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consist
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin consistere “to stand together, stand firm,” from con- con- + sistere “to stand, cause to stand”; see also stand, stasis, status
Explanation
Almost always used with the preposition "of," the verb consist means to be made up of, or composed of something. A heated conversation might consist of only two words: "yes" and "no." If you're talking about something that is made up of other things, consist is your word. A molecule consists of atoms and their bonds. Consist is often used in the past tense, so you're likely to hear it used in a sentence like "the game consisted of fourteen players and one stick." But you can use it in the present tense too. Grammar consists of many, many different rules, all of which are applied differently, depending on whether you're speaking or writing. The clubs all consist of singers, and singers only. If you play an instrument, look elsewhere, bud.
Vocabulary lists containing consist
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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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:
Overlapping action figures, posters and teddy bears also cover Martin's walls and ceilings – his collectables consist of "anything unusual", but he's mostly inspired by Hollywood.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Their investments consist mainly of illiquid loans to middle-market companies, making them hard to sell quickly at good prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Cosmic rays consist mostly of protons, along with a much smaller number of electrons.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
Kinjo says that reefs flanking his seaside farm consist entirely of corals he cultivated, with their natural peers "no longer able to keep up with a tremendous increase in stress" in the anthropogenically polluted ocean.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The whole world seemed to consist of hills, like a cat arching its back at the face of the night—no human beings, no houses.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the $400 million fund consists entirely of capital from OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Although the findings add evidence for dark matter, they do not answer one of the largest remaining questions in physics: what dark matter actually consists of.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Much of the movie consists of Fassbender sitting with Pitt and Bardem as they talk ominously about the dangerous world he’s gotten himself into.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
The band, which now consists of Gibbons, bassist Elwood Francis and touring drummer Michael Monahan, has canceled dates in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs after Beard's passing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Dessert consists mainly of a gargantuan tiered cake shaped to resemble circus tents and frosted in stripes, the filling within a bright shock of raspberry cream.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
However, a big chunk of the earnings consisted of paper gains from marking up equity investments in other companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The men were released, and she wanted them to perform with her dance company on the outside, Figures in Flight, which consisted of a dozen teenage girls.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
The 10-member team also consisted of big names in Nepal's climbing community.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Most of the released material consisted of proteins and carbohydrates that free-living deep ocean microbes can readily consume.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
The magnitude of the misunderstanding shocked him: These supposedly diversified piles of consumer loans now consisted almost entirely of U.S. subprime mortgages.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
“I generally do not charge a fee unless the package ends up consisting of lots of items that are not commissionable — which I try to avoid,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Welcome to its new “AI Creator TV” channel, now available on the app’s streaming service and consisting exclusively of app-generated films and shows, along with commercials that feature “synthetic performers.”
From Slate ● Aug. 16, 2026
With the constituency consisting of rural villages and seaside towns, the last ones should arrive by 23:30.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The company’s largest segment is connectivity, a unit primarily consisting of its Starlink service, which uses a constellation of thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit to provide high-speed internet connections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Stage Two, beginning at the end of 2004, was to replace the student loans and the auto loans and the rest with bigger piles consisting of nothing but U.S. subprime mortgage loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
