situate
Americanverb (used with object)
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situates,
present (3rd person singular)
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situated,
past participle, past
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situating
present participle
adjective
verb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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situatesimple
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situatessimple
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have situatedperfect
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has situatedperfect
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am situatingprogressive
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are situatingprogressive
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is situatingprogressive
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have been situatingperfect progressive
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has been situatingperfect progressive
Past
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situatedsimple
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had situatedperfect
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was situatingprogressive
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were situatingprogressive
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had been situatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of situate
1515–25; < Late Latin situātus situated, equivalent to Latin situ-, stem of situs site + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you situate something, you figure out where it should go or exactly where it is. You might, for example, use a compass to situate the hunting camp you're building on your grandfather's land. Your brother might decide to situate his drums in a far corner of the basement, where his banging is less likely to disturb the household. A land surveyor might use a GPS or satellite data to situate the boundaries of a particular property. In the 1530's, situate literally meant "to give a site to," from the Medieval Latin situare, "to place or locate," with the Latin root word situs, "place or position."
Vocabulary lists containing situate
We Dream of Space
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"Total Loss Weekend" by Don Delillo
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Concrete Rose
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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 scenic decor and costumes situate us in the late 19th century of Ibsen’s bourgeois Norway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
Ms. Penny has no peer in her ability to situate the lives of sympathetic characters within such elaborate and thrilling storylines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
His arguments to the Supreme Court, according to CNN, attempted to situate the issue as one that would impact both his "legal exposure" and that of all future presidents.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2024
This question of how to situate our time in the narrative arc of Earth history has thrust the rarefied world of geological timekeepers into an unfamiliar limelight.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2024
He made his way to Philadelphia, where he hoped to situate himself in a drugstore and eventually to become a partner or owner.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
It also situates Noguchi within the wide constellation of collaborators who shaped his interdisciplinary practice—Marcel Breuer, Alexey Brodovitch, Louis Kahn, Isamu Kenmochi, George Nelson and the companies Alcoa, Knoll and Zenith.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The narrative begins with a religious ritual that situates her as a member of Syria’s minority Alawite sect, a variant of Shi’a Islam.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
This is where Fabio Parasecoli, a professor of food studies and a native Roman, situates Italian comfort food not as indulgence, but as memory and necessity.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
In a separate article in The Hindustan Times newspaper, Mr Jacob also situates the recent talks between Delhi and Beijing in a broader frame: the trilateral interplay of India, China and Russia.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
She situates me in front of the mirror on the back of her door.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
The new cinema will be situated next to the new Troubadour Theatre, which is also under construction.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The helipad is situated on the South Lawn, where presidents and their family for decades have been photographed strolling across the grass to board or exit awaiting "Marine One" helicopters.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The central argument of “Democracy Matters,” situated in a single, capacious, airy gallery, is largely unassailable: that our democracy has always been aspirational—a work in progress too often undercut by U.S. laws and practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The 48-year-old social media personality is getting ready to bid farewell to the sprawling six-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom property, which is situated on a corner lot in the Prado community.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Machine shops and arrays of heavy-duty electrical equipment were situated on the ground floor along the curved inner walls, facing the two-story arch of the magnet.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
But it’s worth taking stock of Musk’s sentiment on its own, and situating it within his behavior on the international stage over the past few weeks.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2024
But in characterizing originalism as a “trap” and situating it historically, Dennie's analysis cuts deeper into the harm caused by originalist doctrine, without sacrificing nuance, rigor or scope.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2024
People of this community manage their flow by situating themselves over a gap in the slatted floors of their homes, free-bleeding onto the lush forest greenery below.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 29, 2023
“Novel Without a Name” differs from O’Brien’s and Ninh’s works in that it declines to look back, instead situating readers in the middle of war.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 23, 2023
And then I burrow into the blankets, situating the ice against my throbbing knee, a tight breath hissing between my teeth.
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.
