Synonyms

distinguish

American

[dih-sting-gwish] / dɪˈstɪŋ gwɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

to mark off as different (often followed by from orby ).

He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
to recognize as distinct or different; recognize the salient or individual features or characteristics of.

It is hard to distinguish her from her twin sister.

Antonyms:

confuse
to perceive clearly by sight or other sense; discern; recognize.

He could not distinguish many of the words.
to set apart as different; be a distinctive characteristic of; characterize.

It is his Italian accent that distinguishes him.
to make prominent, conspicuous, or eminent.

to distinguish oneself in battle.
to divide into classes; classify.

Let us distinguish the various types of metaphor.
Archaic. to single out for or honor with special attention.

verb (used without object)

to indicate or show a difference (usually followed bybetween ).
to recognize or note differences; discriminate.

distinguish British

/ dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃ /

verb

to make, show, or recognize a difference or differences (between or among); differentiate (between)
to be a distinctive feature of; characterize
to make out; perceive
to mark for a special honour or title
to make (oneself) noteworthy

he distinguished himself by his cowardice
to classify; categorize

we distinguished three species

"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

Synonym Usage

Distinguish, differentiate, discriminate suggest an attempt to analyze characteristic features or qualities of things. To distinguish is to recognize the characteristic features belonging to a thing: to distinguish a light cruiser from a heavy cruiser. To discriminate is to perceive the particular, nice, or exact differences between things, to determine wherein these differences consist, and to estimate their significance: to discriminate prejudiced from unprejudiced testimony. To differentiate is to point out exactly and in detail the differences between (usually) two things: The symptoms of both diseases are so similar that it is hard to differentiate one from another.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of distinguish

First recorded in 1555–65; extension, by -ish ², of Middle English disting(u)en (from Anglo-French, Middle French distinguer ), from Latin distinguere; see distinct

Explanation

To distinguish means to tell apart. If you win the lottery, you’re going to need to learn to distinguish between people who really like you and people who like your money. To distinguish is to discern, which means to perceive or recognize the way something differs from what’s around it. It takes discerning taste buds to distinguish between Coke and Pepsi. Distinguish also means to separate yourself out from the pack, usually in a good way. You might distinguish yourself at a Comics Convention with your encyclopedic knowledge of Krazy Kat.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing distinguish

Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List

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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)

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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:

distinguish distinguishes distinguished distinguishing

He accepted AI was used "to distinguish and visualize features in the reconstructed grayscale images".

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Many consumers struggle to distinguish between minimally processed and highly processed products due to confusing labels and marketing practices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

JWST's sensitivity and resolution allowed them to distinguish broad winds containing molecular hydrogen from jets and winds traced by neon.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

Their goal isn’t to make monitors play catchy tunes, Schlesinger says, but to make alarms easier to distinguish, less irritating and more informative.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

"Scientifically, it’s clearly more or less complete nonsense," Columbia University physicist Peter Woit told the New York Times, "but these days that doesn’t much distinguish it from a lot of the rest of the literature."

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

"There's nothing that distinguishes them from other bees really, they're not that kind of attention-grabbing species, but, you know, were you to look for them, go to ivy and you'll see them," Benwell said.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

“The ability to imagine a different world is what distinguishes the leaders of any social movement,” Linda Greenhouse once wrote of Ginsburg.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

“What distinguishes Ukrainians from Russians is not language or religion, though there is a difference there,” Hrytsak said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Like: “I noticed the posted range is fairly broad. Could you help me understand what distinguishes someone at the bottom of it from someone at the top?”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Is there a simple rule of thumb that distinguishes a group with real social authority from a group with little power at all?

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell

What has distinguished Justice Thomas as a jurist, however, isn’t merely his longevity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

While one might argue that those are original titles of distinguished quality, it’s unfair to write off “Resident Evil” simply because it’s a game adaptation.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

He said La Opinión distinguished itself by sticking to journalism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

In a statement, Harper Adams' vice-chancellor, professor Ken Sloan, said he is "delighted" to see "distinguished people" from Shropshire and specialist industries being recognised.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

"He was a very distinguished soldier," Brett said.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

A group of Hollywood and Silicon Valley power players proposed a framework to approach AI by distinguishing between “Human Generative Workflows” and uses that replace human contributions like actors’ performances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

French Senators had opted for a two-tier system distinguishing between blacklisted platforms flagged as harmful to a child's development, and those that could still be accessed with parental consent.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

First, practice distinguishing between what the Constitution says and what judges and justices say about the Constitution, a document riddled with aspirational vagaries and flexible abstractions.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

Inspecting roofs, especially distinguishing between wind and hail damage, involves a certain degree of subjective judgment.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

But the longer she spent in America, the better she had become at distinguishing, sometimes from looks and gait, but mostly from bearing and demeanor, that fine-grained mark that culture stamps on people.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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