comprehend
Usage
What are other ways to say comprehend?
To comprehend is to know something thoroughly and to perceive its relationships to certain other ideas, facts, etc. To know is to be aware of something as a fact or truth: He knows the basic facts of the subject. I know that he agrees with me. To understand is to be fully aware not only of the meaning of something but also of its implications: I could comprehend all he said, but did not understand that he was joking.
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:
Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafstrom joined the criticism of the plan, writing in an internal memo to staff that the last week had been "difficult to comprehend and accept".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Zidan said he still struggled to comprehend what had happened in the village.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
We “can read the language of DNA,” he grants, but “we cannot yet speak it, nor fully comprehend it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
We can comprehend 1 million, and even that 1 billion is one thousand millions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Many an evening I have worked over them—we all did something of the kind—but that has become so unreal to me I cannot comprehend it any more.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
College Football Brain is why we still have Zombie Bowl games layered on top of this 12-team playoff, as if anyone actually cares or comprehends why the quarterfinal needs to masquerade as the Cotton Bowl.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
They communicate verbally and also, often in games, only with a nod or a look that the other instantly comprehends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2024
“I don’t think she comprehends the breadth and depth of the suffering she has caused,” a tearful Ruetten said.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
She comprehends the win-win dynamic of a dual hosting model, especially when the other host is a professional comic.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2023
He comprehends it, being a man full grown, able to oversee the kind of house Zeus would endow with honor.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Manjusri, with a calm smile, gently raises his hand to counter that the true nonmaterial essence of the Buddha can never be comprehended before transcending the material world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
I intellectually comprehended this rule, but living through it was another thing entirely.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
He told the inquiry he had been "frustrated" that some government officials had not "comprehended the figures".
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2023
Whether he survived Nandor's wrath became less important than whether Guillermo fully understood what he professed to desire most and whether Nandor comprehended how essential Guillermo is to his well-being.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2023
I regret to state that I was not afraid of telling the enormous lie comprehended in the answer “No.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
And once comprehending, shall he go with the flow?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
Yet as commander in chief, wisely comprehending that no war to save the Union could be waged, much less won, exclusively by Republicans, Lincoln sought out Democrats to help battle secession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
"They can't remember what things are called, can't finish a sentence, have trouble comprehending a text."
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
The resulting data will certainly be of value for comprehending and conserving modern-day biodiversity.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025
I found one and tried to haul myself up, only now truly comprehending the size of these trees.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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List 4
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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