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Synonyms

understand

American

[uhn-der-stand] / ˌʌn dərˈstænd /

verb (used with object)

to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend.

to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
to be thoroughly familiar with; apprehend clearly the character, nature, or subtleties of.

to understand a trade.
to assign a meaning to; interpret.

He understood her suggestion as a complaint.
to grasp the significance, implications, or importance of.

He does not understand responsibility.
to regard as firmly communicated; take as agreed or settled.

I understand that you will repay this loan in 30 days.
to learn or hear.

I understand that you are going out of town.
to accept as true; believe.

I understand that you are trying to be truthful, but you are wrong.
to construe in a particular way.

You are to understand the phrase literally.
to supply mentally (something that is not expressed).

verb (used without object)

to perceive what is meant; grasp the information conveyed.

She told them about it in simple words, hoping they would understand.
to accept tolerantly or sympathetically.

If you can't do it, I'll understand.
to have knowledge or background, as on a particular subject.

He understands about boats.
to have a systematic interpretation or rationale, as in a field or area of knowledge.

He can repeat every rule in the book, but he just doesn't understand.

understand British

/ ˌʌndəˈstænd /

verb

(may take a clause as object) to know and comprehend the nature or meaning of

I understand you
I understand what you mean
(may take a clause as object) to realize or grasp (something)

he understands your position
(tr; may take a clause as object) to assume, infer, or believe

I understand you are thinking of marrying
(tr) to know how to translate or read

can you understand Spanish?
(tr; may take a clause as object; often passive) to accept as a condition or proviso

it is understood that children must be kept quiet
(tr) to be sympathetic to or compatible with

we understand each other

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

understand Idioms

see give to understand.

Usage

What are other ways to say understand? To understand something is to be thoroughly familiar with it, or to apprehend clearly its character, nature, or subtleties. How is understand different from know and comprehend? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of understand

First recorded before 900; Middle English understanden, understonden, Old English understondan; cognate with Dutch onderstaan. See under-, stand

Explanation

To understand something is to comprehend or get it. The more we learn, the more we understand. The goal of most education is to help students understand how the world works: history, math, English, music, science, and art are all complicated subjects that you need to practice and think about before you can really understand them. Understanding requires knowledge and thought. Another kind of understanding is like sympathy. For example, you might not approve of stealing, but you could understand why a guy would steal to feed his family.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing understand

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Foundational Reading

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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:

understand understands understood understanding

The general public doesn’t have “a perfect understanding of the link between deficits and the economy,” but “at some level people do understand the connection,” Goldwein added.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

It helps when I understand that I’m just cooking dinner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

The findings could help researchers better understand existing complex systems, particularly ecological networks, while also providing engineers with new strategies for designing systems from the ground up.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

“We don’t have the money, but a lot of the work we do is political and civic education, demystifying power, and making people understand they have agency.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Like, Berlin Chambers could now understand more than half of what was being said.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Doug Jamieson, of The Jam Report, external, awarded four stars and said Cregger "understands adaptation as translation rather than imitation".

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

The company hopes the community understands how hard it has tried to limit the damage from this disaster, Lehmkuhl said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

However, the BBC understands that there are different rules depending on teams, with, for example, investment bankers in the office for five days per week.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

He cares tremendously about humanity and understands that an insolvent U.S. can’t solve our problems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

To this day no one quite understands what happened next.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Mawarire understood this because he had walked the walk.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

I understood that it was not culturally acceptable in Russia to confront an older person of authority, so I steeled myself.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

"If someone had truly understood this tree was deeply loved, they probably would not have made the decision to inject herbicide," says Kim Min-joo, who has lived in Buam-dong for more than a decade.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

But the Arizonan understood that the fight goes on, and his ideas are eternally relevant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

But I, as a fellow invisible person, had always understood that people went there to be alone.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Researchers say that understanding how plague became established after the Black Death, remained present for centuries, and eventually disappeared from Europe could help scientists better understand the long term behavior of infectious diseases.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

“To the degree that Republican candidates are distancing themselves, they’re understanding that they’re actually appealing to newer electorates,” Peterson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

We're in a very privileged position, and it's understanding that privilege and what goes along with it.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

“The hard part of a long-distance relationship is there is a component of fantasy that could creep in that clouds understanding of the relationship or what is going on,” Bobby says.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Autumn nods in understanding and creeps toward the television, her form as lithe as a mountain lion.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023