ratify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
ratifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ratified,
past participle, past
-
ratifying
present participle
-
to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction.
to ratify a constitutional amendment.
- Synonyms:
- approve, corroborate
- Antonyms:
- disapprove, veto
-
to confirm (something done or arranged by an agent or by representatives) by such action.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ratifysimple
-
ratifiessimple
-
have ratifiedperfect
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has ratifiedperfect
-
am ratifyingprogressive
-
are ratifyingprogressive
-
is ratifyingprogressive
-
have been ratifyingperfect progressive
-
has been ratifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
ratifiedsimple
-
had ratifiedperfect
-
was ratifyingprogressive
-
were ratifyingprogressive
-
had been ratifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ratify
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English ratifien, from Middle French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratificāre, equivalent to Latin rat(us) “calculated” ( see rate 1) + -ificāre -ify
Explanation
To ratify a treaty or contract is to officially approve it by signing or voting for it. You and your brothers and sisters might devise a plan for a family vacation to Disney World, but it would need to be ratified by your parents. You are most likely to hear the word ratify when talking about laws. In the U.S., Congress writes bills, but they need to be ratified before they become law. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution must be ratified by three-fourths of the states, either passed by the state legislatures or by state conventions.
Vocabulary lists containing ratify
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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American History I
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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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:
It’s rare that candidates are nominated through conventions, which are often opportunities for endless speeches—much like the quadrennial political conventions that national parties hold to ratify their nominees.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
Samsung Electronics' labour union is expected to announce Wednesday whether chip workers voted to ratify a wage deal that would deliver massive AI-linked bonuses and helped avert a major strike.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
"So I think we are coming to good solutions that we are going to ratify hopefully today, in order to evolve, because it's only three races in."
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
The Board of Education also must ratify tentative agreements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
While an enormous hurdle had been cleared, the suffragists knew their work was not done: Before the amendment would become law, three-fourths of the states needed to ratify it.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Its logic reaches the labor board, the merit board, and the trade commission and ratifies the removals the court had already waved through at the consumer-product, surface-transportation, and employment agencies.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
The dollar “probably can keep selling off because it kind of ratifies the current narrative,” said Brent Donnelly, president of Spectra Markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
“What Mike White does is so insanely strong that when he ratifies an actor — or gives someone their moment — it’s just so deeply impressive,” Perkins says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
"The Public Ministry ratifies its commitment to the relentless fight against corruption," Attorney General Tarek William Saab wrote on Twitter.
From Reuters ● Mar. 31, 2023
The Regent appoints, and the council at its annual meeting ratifies by votes, one lady in each State as vice-regent to represent the State.
From The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV by Ida Husted Harper
The United States signed the Rome Statute establishing the ICC but never ratified the treaty.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Stern: After the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, Turner’s mother brought a habeas petition under the federal Constitution.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
The actors’ guild SAG-AFTRA in June ratified a new four-year contract with special protections against synthetic performers, and the union has backed a national bill designed to protect individuals from unauthorized, AI-generated digital replicas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
The treaty seeks to ban all nuclear explosion tests on Earth, but several "nuclear-capable" states have not ratified it yet.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
As Congress ratified the Thirteenth Amendment forbidding slavery in the United States, sometime before the end of 1865, the Kanes cut off Maggie’s meager support altogether.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Whatever else this enigmatic phrase may cover, it is plain from British constitutional history, the statements of those involved in drafting and ratifying the U.S.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
European lawmakers are in the process of ratifying that treaty but haven’t yet codified it in law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
It has, however, raised questions about trade deals Washington has agreed since Trump's "Liberation Day" bombshell in April, with the European Union demanding clarity on the issue before ratifying its agreement.
From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026
Yet ratifying the agreement has proven difficult because roughly half of the guides don’t want to unionize.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
The old Antifederalist coalition that Madison had opposed so effectively at the Virginia ratifying convention in 1788 believed with some justification that their cause had never really been defeated, merely outmaneuvered.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
