devote
Americanverb (used with object)
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devotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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devoted,
past participle, past
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devoting
present participle
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to give up or appropriate to or concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc..
to devote one's time to reading.
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to appropriate by or as if by a vow; set apart or dedicate by a solemn or formal act; consecrate.
She devoted her life to God.
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to commit to evil or destruction; doom.
verb
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to apply or dedicate (oneself, time, money, etc) to some pursuit, cause, etc
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obsolete to curse or doom
Synonym Usage
Devote, dedicate, consecrate share the sense of assigning or applying someone or something to an activity, function, or end. Devote, though it has some overtones of religious dedication, is the most general of the three terms: He devoted his free time to mastering the computer. Dedicate is more solemn and carries an ethical or moral tone: We are dedicated to the achievement of equality for all. Consecrate, even in nonreligious contexts, clearly implies a powerful and sacred dedication: consecrated to the service of humanity.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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devotesimple
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devotessimple
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have devotedperfect
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has devotedperfect
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am devotingprogressive
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are devotingprogressive
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is devotingprogressive
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have been devotingperfect progressive
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has been devotingperfect progressive
Past
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devotedsimple
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had devotedperfect
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was devotingprogressive
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were devotingprogressive
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had been devotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of devote
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin dēvōtus “vowed,” past participle of dēvovēre “to vow,” from dē- de- + vovēre “to vow” ( see vow)
Explanation
Devote means to give to. If you devote yourself to jump-roping, you might be found in your driveway every free moment of the day practicing. Nuns and priests are said to devote their lives to God. A knight in shining armor devotes himself to his lady. If you devote as much energy to your school work as you do to your hair, your grades should improve. If our country devoted to education even half of the resources we pour into defense, we could eliminate poverty.
Vocabulary lists containing devote
Early Civilizations of India, Lessons 1–4
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Schooled
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Chapter 2: Exploring the Americas
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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:
Although they said they would devote the refund to “price investment,” which sounds like lowering prices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Germán Jalil, a Mexico City Uber driver, promised his grandmother he’d devote himself to his university studies if Mexico wins the World Cup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Meta plans to devote up to $145 billion toward capital expenditures this year.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
When the time came to decide which sport to devote his abundant talent to, tennis won through – but the decision was not without a personal cost.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
All this changed about 10,000 years ago, when Sapiens began to devote almost all their time and effort to manipulating the lives of a few animal and plant species.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Mr. Friedman devotes a chapter to Paul Skenes, the star right-hander currently pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Ms. Willetts devotes nearly an entire chapter—ostensibly on postwar nightlife in Las Vegas and Havana—to Frank Sinatra, head of America’s Rat Pack of lounge crooners and the “kingpin of ‘gentlemanly’ debauchery.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
In “Atlas,” Natkiel skips that sequel, and devotes only two small maps to the whole first affair, due to its perceived insignificance and limited gains.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
But as funding from cap-and-invest and the climate bond dwindle, the state must increasingly turn to Cal Fire, which devotes only a small portion of its budget to mitigation work.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
California is virtually alone among the states in having a formal program in biological control, and many states have not even one entomologist who devotes full time to it.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Three colleges later, Gillis devoted himself to stand-up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Maybe I associate too much with loving, devoted parents and not enough with intellectuals who think parents are holding their kids hostage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“The sheriff acknowledged the problem and devoted substantial additional resources, including new processing software and additional personnel, to cutting waiting times dramatically.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Seeing Jackie and Shadow’s devoted fans come together to protect the home they shared from human development is the most meaningful tribute to Jackie for the remarkable legacy she has left us.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
He met Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk, a devoted communist who lectured miners on the basics of communist philosophy.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
With Farage no longer an MP and fighting his own by-election in Clacton in Essex - he is hamstrung when it comes to devoting as much time and energy to Greater Manchester.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In response, studios that used to obsess over franchise management are devoting more energy to signing the most promising filmmakers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Lindsey Rae Thompson, who’s been looking for a job for several months, has been devoting at least an hour to each cover letter she crafts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Our country is winning again,” Trump said, devoting nearly six minutes of his speech to the team’s victory.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
But Dad said 93 Little Hobart Street was such a dump that we shouldn’t waste time or energy on it that we could be devoting to the Glass Castle.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
