resolution

American  

[rez-uh-loo-shuhn] / ˌrɛz əˈlu ʃən /

noun

resolutions plural

1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.

2. the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.

3. a resolve; a decision or determination.

   to make a firm resolution to do something.

   Her resolution to clear her parents' name allowed her no other focus in life.

4. the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

   She showed her resolution by not attending the meeting.

   Synonyms:

   fortitude, strength, tenacity, perseverance, determination, resolve

5. the act or process of resolving or separating something into constituent or elementary parts.

6. the resulting state.

7. Optics. the act, process, or capability of distinguishing between two separate but adjacent objects or sources of light or between two nearly equal wavelengths.

8. a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy, etc.

9. Music.

   1. the progression of a voice part or of the harmony as a whole from a dissonance to a consonance.

   2. the tone or chord to which a dissonance is resolved.

10. reduction to a simpler form; conversion.

11. Medicine/Medical. the reduction or disappearance of a swelling or inflammation without suppuration.

12. the degree of sharpness of a computer-generated image as measured by the number of dots per linear inch in a hard-copy printout or the number of pixels across and down on a display screen.

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resolution British  

/ ˌrɛzəˈluːʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of resolving

2. the condition or quality of being resolute; firmness or determination

3. something resolved or determined; decision

4. a formal expression of opinion by a meeting, esp one agreed by a vote

5. a judicial decision on some matter; verdict; judgment

6. the act or process of separating something into its constituent parts or elements

7. med

   1. return from a pathological to a normal condition

   2. subsidence of the symptoms of a disease, esp the disappearance of inflammation without the formation of pus

8. music the process in harmony whereby a dissonant note or chord is followed by a consonant one

9. the ability of a television or film image to reproduce fine detail

10. physics another word for resolving power

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonresolution
  noun
• preresolution
  noun
• resolutioner
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• resolutions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of resolution

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin resolūtiōn-, stem of resolūtiō “looseness, a release” equivalent to resolute + -ion

Explanation

The noun resolution has a few related meanings having to do with being firmly determined about something. If you lack determination, you'll never fulfill your New Year's resolutions. Resolution is the noun form of the verb resolve, derived from the Latin resolvere, "to loosen, undo, settle." We can still see this meaning of resolution in the sense of "an explanation" or "a solution" — when a problem, conflict, or mystery reaches its resolution, it has been "undone," so to speak. If you approach a task with resolution, you do it with determination. And if you make a resolution, you make a firm decision to do something or meet some goal.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

resolution resolutions

In New York, tickets to see the film in Imax’s ultrahigh 70-millimeter resolution are being resold for hundreds of dollars.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

If shipping traffic through Bab el-Mandeb is halted, global oil inventories would “drop dramatically, and crude prices would jump and remain high until a resolution is found,” Haigh said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The new resolution would go further, by requiring the FTC to report to Congress on the matter and propose legislative fixes to address the issue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

But Dirie told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast that the Somali government had approached Meta, which owns WhatsApp, about their concerns and hoped that "we'll reach a resolution on this matter very soon".

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

I made the resolution; gladder that I kept to it.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

"With the festive season now behind most of us and New Year's resolutions in full swing, this research can help inform people's plans for healthy aging in 2026," she said.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026

The replacement tickets ended up cutting Fountain off from his refund opportunity, as per the terms of StubHub’s “FanProtect Guarantee,” which leaves decisions on resolutions to the platform’s “sole discretion.”

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those from the General Assembly are not legally binding.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993 and has since conducted six nuclear tests, subjecting it to multiple United Nations resolutions, and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Those in attendance supported most of the ideas outlined in the document, and when it was passed around the room for those in attendance to sign, eleven of the resolutions passed unanimously.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

Related Words

• conclusion
• decision
• finding
• motion
• outcome
• proposal
• proposition
• recommendation
• settlement
• solution
• verdict