congregate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
adjective
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congregated; assembled.
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formed by collecting; collective.
verb
adjective
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collected together; assembled
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relating to collecting; collective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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congregativenessnoun
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congregatornoun
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decongregateverb
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congregativeadjective
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noncongregativeadjective
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uncongregatedadjective
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uncongregativeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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congregatesimple
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congregatessimple
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have congregatedperfect
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has congregatedperfect
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am congregatingprogressive
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are congregatingprogressive
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is congregatingprogressive
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have been congregatingperfect progressive
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has been congregatingperfect progressive
Past
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congregatedsimple
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had congregatedperfect
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was congregatingprogressive
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were congregatingprogressive
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had been congregatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of congregate
1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Latin congregātus (past participle of congregāre to flock together), equivalent to con- con- + greg- (stem of grex ) flock + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Congregate is a verb that means to come together, to assemble, or to gather. At school dances, you may congregate with your friends, because you get nervous in front of kids you don't know very well. Congregate comes from Latin root words com, meaning "together" and gregare, meaning "to gather in a flock." Congregation, or a gathering or assembly, comes from the same roots, as does gregarious, an adjective describing someone who likes to gather with others to socialize. If you remember the key word is flock — what ministers often call their congregations — you should have no trouble remembering congregate means to flock together.
Vocabulary lists containing congregate
Power Prefix: con-
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The Old Man and the Sea
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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.
In front of her, groups of figures congregate, the rough surfaces of their bodies—molded as if from the leftover clay that shaped Adam—testifying that they are decidedly of this world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
One lesson of the pandemic was that hotels and motels mobilized to house the unsheltered were successful in bringing people indoors who were otherwise reluctant to stay in congregate shelters or withstand involuntary hospitalizations.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
"The real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark space," Spielberg said.
From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026
County Parks and Recreation, immediately started to address the dearth of places to congregate after the fires.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026
There are a lot of lakes down there, and wherever there are lakes in Florida, there are rich people to congregate around them, so it seemed an unlikely place for a pseudovision.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
