ascertain
Usage
What are other ways to say ascertain?
To ascertain is to verify facts by inquiry or analysis: to ascertain the truth about an event. To learn is to add to one's knowledge or information: to learn a language. The verb discover is used with objective clauses as a synonym of learn in order to suggest that the new information acquired is surprising to the learner: I discovered that she had been married before. To detect implies becoming aware of something that had been obscure, secret, or concealed: to detect a flaw in reasoning.
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.
Officials said they are also in communication with authorities to ascertain the cause of death, obtain the complete medical record and review the circumstances surrounding the death.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
AFP and SourceMaterial used trade data, including some supplied by T&E, shareholder agreements, and customs documents obtained through freedom of information requests to ascertain the identities of three of those arrested.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
Instead, the duty of a judge is to ascertain “what Congress wanted, as best we can ascertain its intent.”
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
To ascertain whether X screened researchers’ applications for its data too strictly, the commission reviewed 12 applications, four of them “in depth”—tiny numbers given that X received 151 research requests in a single two-month period.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
In some way impossible to ascertain, after so many years of absence, José Arcadio was still an autumnal child, terribly sad and solitary.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Vocabulary lists containing ascertain
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The Bill of Rights
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