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:
Confirmation can elevate the official; it cannot ratify the paper.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Board of Education also must ratify tentative agreements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Updating the Exchange of Notes is "necessary in order to ratify the treaty", Doughty told MPs.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
The European Union will provisionally apply its trade agreement with South American countries as lawmakers in the bloc are still waiting to ratify the accord.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
His attack was on those who wrote history to ratify and glorify the present, particularly present political arrangements.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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
It's also unclear how the Senate, which ratifies treaties, would respond if the US reached some sort of agreement with Denmark to take over part or all of Greenland.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 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
Connecticut, government of, 65; quarrels with New York and Pennsylvania, 146–151; keeps almost entirely clear of paper money, 172; western claims of, 189, 194; ratifies the Constitution, 316.
From The Critical Period of American History by John Fiske
The upper house, the Council of the Nation, will review the law before it is officially ratified by the president.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
MAL was one of four blood group systems ratified during the period covered by the organization's 2026 terminology report, alongside ER, CD36 and ATP11C.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Women couldn’t vote until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Walter had sold the Lakers after less than one year of ownership ratified by the NBA board of governors — and not through a comprehensive bidding process, but to an inquiring caller during the weekend?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
She supported the Equal Rights Amendment, proposed in 1923; Congress passed the bill in 1912, but it was never ratified by three-fourths of the states.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
A supermajority requirement would apply only to constitutional amendments and ratifying treaties.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
Von der Leyen said Thursday that the bloc has made "good progress" towards ratifying the deal by early July.
From Barron's ● May 7, 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
Nations had been scheduled to vote on ratifying the plan this week, but the ballot was postponed for a year after a lobbying campaign from the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
The debates in the ratifying conventions of the respective states only exposed the irreconcilable differences of opinion that the Constitution had so deftly bundled together.
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.
