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:
“There is no privileged access to understanding its direction. You need to look through as many windows as possible. We humans are limited and exhausted and can’t comprehend the world in its fullness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
“It is difficult to comprehend how much this young coyote endured over the course of the past year,” Wildlife Care of SoCal wrote in an update Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The stark difference between neighbouring properties can make the destruction difficult to comprehend for many people.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Hard as it may seem now to comprehend, some people developed healthier relationships with others and had a stronger sense of their own place in the world.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
For a man who had fought so long and hard for freedom, it is astonishing Washington could not comprehend that an enslaved person might want the same right.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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
Knox comprehends how knotty the process of reconciling with an ending that differs from what we want can be.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2025
Lewis came up with an approach and strategy that showed that she, at least, is an American who now comprehends the true dynamics that yield success in these matches.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
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
But also he would have understood the other part, which I don’t think even Mercer comprehends.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
What I hadn’t fully comprehended is how much an ongoing financial advisory relationship would cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
"I don't think 13-year-old me could have comprehended what I'm feeling now."
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 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
They work at the lowest level comprehended by the contract, they work either too few weeks with an unreasonable pressure on them to produce, or too many weeks without their salaries going up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
For a while, we sat in the car in the darkness, trying to comprehend what could not be comprehended even after all these years.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
“Higher capacity is required for complex transactions like contracts, which require not just grasping the immediate exchange, but also comprehending finer details, consequences and the broader context.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
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
"The public... has no way of comprehending the artist's work, which raises questions over our whole mission of public service," Ms des Cars said.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2025
Weston, not quite comprehending all that was happening, felt, rather than saw, Robbie brush past him, and came to a sudden bewildered halt.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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