recommend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
recommends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recommended,
past participle, past
-
recommending
present participle
-
to present as worthy of confidence, acceptance, use, etc.; commend; mention favorably.
to recommend an applicant for a job; to recommend a book.
- Antonyms:
- condemn
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to represent or urge as advisable or expedient.
to recommend caution.
-
to advise, as an alternative; suggest (a choice, course of action, etc.) as appropriate, beneficial, or the like.
He recommended the blue-plate special. The doctor recommended special exercises for her.
- Synonyms:
- counsel
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to make desirable or attractive.
a plan that has very little to recommend it.
verb (used without object)
-
recommends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recommended,
past participle, past
-
recommending
present participle
noun
verb
-
(may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to advise as the best course or choice; counsel
to recommend prudence
-
to praise or commend
to recommend a new book
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to make attractive or advisable
the trip has little to recommend it
-
archaic to entrust (a person or thing) to someone else's care; commend
Usage
Spelling tips for recommend The word recommend is hard to spell because it is tricky to know whether the c, the m, and/or the n is doubled. How to spell recommend: The easiest way to remember how to spell recommend is to break it into three parts: re - com - mend. You can keep these three sections in mind with the sentence: "I recommend that you rely commonly on mending."
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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recommendernoun
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prerecommendverb (used with object)
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recommendableadjective
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unrecommendableadjective
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unrecommendedadjective
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well-recommendedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recommendsimple
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recommendssimple
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have recommendedperfect
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has recommendedperfect
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am recommendingprogressive
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are recommendingprogressive
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is recommendingprogressive
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have been recommendingperfect progressive
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has been recommendingperfect progressive
Past
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recommendedsimple
-
had recommendedperfect
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was recommendingprogressive
-
were recommendingprogressive
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had been recommendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recommend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English recommenden, from Medieval Latin recommendāre; equivalent to re- + commend
Explanation
If you recommend a person or thing is to vouch for them. Recommend can also be to advise. If your doctor recommended an exercise program to you that's changed your life, you might recommend your doctor to your friends. Recommend is connected to the verb commend "to praise." They are both spelled with one c and two m's, reflecting the prefixes re- and com-. These verbs overlap in some uses: you can recommend or commend an applicant for employment. But commend is used for special or public praise: "He was commended for bravery."
Vocabulary lists containing recommend
"the insanity of selling junk food"
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Excerpt from "Bad Boy"
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Encourage
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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:
The admin emails to which Microsoft sent those notifications tend to get slammed with junk from spammers, leading software developers to recommend ignoring those inboxes altogether.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
I highly recommend that Andy Pages get a referral for the same ophthalmologist that Max Muncy saw a few years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
The researchers recommend monitoring the composition of the atmosphere together with biological markers across populations.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
While fretting over such minutiae is far from mainstream practice—many doctors recommend simplicity in fitness and nutrition—a growing number of so-called datamaxxers have finally found their version of nerd Valhalla.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Truly excellent, guys! And you might want to practice this at home, too. I’d recommend in front of a mirror.”
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
If a figeater beetle ends up in your house, Windbiel-Rojas recommends gently putting it back outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Timothy James, 38, who recommends stocks and offers market predictions on TikTok and Substack, has recently posted videos claiming the market is approaching a peak and predicting a meltdown in the future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
If you have not got a handy, leafy tree or a pinhole camera, Clough recommends taking a kitchen colander outside to create the same effect.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Wells Fargo recommends stocks in the tech, industrials and financial services sectors as spending on artificial intelligence trickles down into the rest of the economy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Our medic recommends complete bed rest for you.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
In May 2025, the trust recommended that EGS should only be provided at one of its hospital sites.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Hawaii's emergency management agency recommended residents clear gutters and drains and move valuables off the ground, seal gaps in doors and remove tree limbs that threaten their properties.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Consider the timers’ recommended equity-exposure levels for the 50 best and 50 worst days since 1980.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Executives are racing to make sure their brands are recommended by artificial intelligence chatbots, and Reddit is the most-cited website in AI answers, according to AI visibility data firm Parse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Melissa Winter, who was my first hire and would later become my chief of staff, had been recommended by Barack’s scheduler.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Note that, in each case, the newsletters recommending the stock are doing so for reasons having nothing to do with where it stands in the market-cap ranking.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Others have been quoting Clement Attlee, recommending "a period of silence".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
His videos don’t stop at recommending where to eat.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
Similarly, in 2025, comedian John Mulaney also began recommending books on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Diana tried to help, recommending that I apply for a free treatment program at a trauma center in Manhattan.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
