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.

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Vocabulary lists containing distinguish

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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

Benslimane argues that her privileged background and access to political networks distinguish her from many Moroccan women who have fewer opportunities to enter public life.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

In Europe, it has often struggled to distinguish its small-car offerings from scores of competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

These differences gave researchers an opportunity to investigate what might distinguish brains experiencing faster deterioration from those aging more gradually.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

"South Korea and the United States deploy decoy targets to divert torpedoes, but AI could potentially help distinguish real targets from decoys," Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 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

In an article, they note that the definition used in the measure hews closely to another section of California law, which distinguishes providing internet services from offering content, services and applications online.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

What distinguishes Tsion Cafe is that its food represents the Jewish diaspora from Ethiopia, a group that numbers over 175,000 in Israel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

“CoreWeave has established a reputation for reliability and performance that distinguishes it from peers,” Keirstead added.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

"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

But what truly distinguishes their histories is not their extraordinary talent but their extraordinary opportunities.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

“This is potentially more of a swan song for Xavier Becerra, the icing on the cake for a long and distinguished political career, and for Gavin Newsom, it was a stepping stone,” Rosales said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

A government spokesperson said Sir Olly "had a distinguished public service career over three decades".

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

At the time, the War Department recognized schools such as Pennsylvania Military College and LSU as distinguished military colleges based on an annual formal inspection of their corps of cadets programs, facilities and instruction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Zacharia, in a post on X, thanked Trump for the "distinguished privilege of serving as White House Press Secretary."

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Therefore when he had fallen by a Trojan spear the Greeks paid him honors as though he were divine and the gods, too, greatly distinguished him.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Young Cheol Kim, who completed his doctorate in geosciences at Penn State this summer, explained that monitoring the volcano continuously is essential for distinguishing normal activity from changes that might signal increasing volcanic hazards.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

The 6 acres of conservation land help preserve the wooded setting around the home, distinguishing it from luxury properties where neighboring development could eventually alter the surrounding views and sense of seclusion.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

Hannah Grossman, co-director of High Desert Test Sites, sees Albuquerque’s physical engagement with the landscape as a distinguishing feature of her practice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

"So for example, people of colour, gender, queer people, people with kind of interesting and distinguishing facial features, it means that they're going to be left out," she said.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Bullhead’s distinguishing civic feature is the Mohave Valley Highway, four lanes of asphalt lined with gas stations and fast-food franchises, chiropractors and video shops, auto-parts outlets and tourist traps.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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