recommendation
Americannoun
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recommendations
plural
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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:
For loved ones, Lesser’s recommendation was to see people with dementia as neither there or not there, but on a continuum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
No one had died in the attack, but following a jury’s recommendation, Graham sentenced Walters to 92 years in prison.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
The idea was a key recommendation of Sir John Cunliffe's Independent Water Commission published in June last year.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
By sector, Wells Fargo is lowering its tech recommendation to equal-weight from overweight while raising healthcare to overweight from equal-weight.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The vote was unanimous, although one member, navy undersecretary Ralph Bard, presently dissented from the third recommendation, resigned his post, and proposed to Stimson that the Japanese receive two or three days’ warning.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
A whole social media ecosystem emerged with influencers sharing their finds and recommendations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
California’s Government Operations Agency would issue recommendations about each proposal’s technical feasibility and potential efficacy within two months, according to the order.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Protocols’ recommendations, often presented as “simple,” collectively make up a firehose that’s impossible to drink from.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
"The purpose of the inquiry was to bring in recommendations that would ensure children aren't harmed, so to call it redundant so outwardly seems quite an unusual stance to take", she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Book recommendations are listed in columns down the sides of each page.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
