recommendation
Americannoun
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an act of recommending.
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a letter or the like recommending a person or thing.
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representation in favor of a person or thing.
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anything that serves to recommend a person or thing, or induce acceptance or favor.
noun
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the act of recommending
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something that recommends, esp a letter presenting someone as suitable for a job, etc
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something that is recommended, such as a course of action
Usage
Spelling tips for recommendation The word recommendation is hard to spell because it is tricky to know whether the c, the m, and/or the d is doubled. How to spell recommendation: The easiest way to remember how to spell recommend is to break it into three parts: re - com - mend - ation. You can keep the first three sections in mind with the sentence: "I recommend that you rely commonly on mending." The suffix -ation is used to indicate nouns of action and appears in many other words, like starvation and regulation.
Synonym Usage
See advice.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of recommendation
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English recommendacion, from Medieval Latin recommendātiōn-, stem of recommendātiō, from recommendāt(us) (past participle of recommendāre; see recommend) + -iō -ion
Explanation
If you give someone a recommendation, you're saying, "try this, it's good" or "this is the best way to proceed," or "this person will do a great job." The noun recommendation stems from the Middle Latin word recommend, meaning "praise" or "present as worthy." Policy makers have made a strong recommendation to implement renewable energy initiatives to alleviate our dependence on fossil fuels. It used to be that you carried a letter of recommendation from a prominent person and used it as an introduction to polite society in an unfamiliar place, but nowadays, such a letter simply explains why someone is qualified for a particular job or school.
Vocabulary lists containing recommendation
CTE Cosmetology (Milady), Vocabulary from Part 1
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Conventions, Writing, and Speaking & Listening, Unit 1
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 7
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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:
Many medical experts have warned against that recommendation, citing a lack of evidence.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Robust first-half earnings from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs last week have triggered earnings and recommendation upgrades from research analysts as they say Wall Street’s success may be shared in Europe as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Robust first-half earnings from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs last week have triggered earnings and recommendation upgrades from research analysts as they say Wall Street’s success may be shared by rivals in Europe as well.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Families living in rural parts of the West Midlands have welcomed a recommendation to bring protections for heating oil customers in line with those connected to the grid.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
His recommendation to the German government: if it wanted to do something about the epidemic, it needed to end the malnutrition, overcrowding, and poor hygiene.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Following the Times investigation, CSU said it was halting the program until the Board of Trustees reviewed a task force’s recommendations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
After the Atherton Inquiry, RAF veteran Stacey Denyer, who left the service in 2023, was one of a number of servicewomen who joined a ministerial roundtable to discuss putting its recommendations into practice.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
And if you liked these recommendations, you might like Your Morning Slate, a newsletter that gives you three handpicked recommendations bright and early from Slate’s editor in chief, plus highlights from our homepage.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
The research does not change current recommendations for coffee consumption.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
I find prenatal vitamin recommendations, sonograms, and photocopies of each visit to the doctor.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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.
