identify
Frequently Asked Questions
- recognize—to be able to tell what something is (and often to know its name), as in He immediately identified/recognized it as a monarch butterfly.
- diagnose or pinpoint, as in My mechanic was finally able to identify/diagnose/pinpoint the problem.
- associate, such as with a certain group or belief, as in She’s known for identifying/associating with the party’s reform wing.
- distinguish, as in Her height identified/distinguished her as the volleyball player.
- establish (who someone is), as in He has been identified/established as the main suspect. Relatedly, to identify someone is to figure out who they are—to establish their identity.
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.
"Emissions from the plant are monitored around the clock, and the data is rigorously assessed to identify if any breaches to the permit occur," he said.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
The wearables correctly identified REM cycles, but overestimated deep sleep—the hardest stage to identify without brain-wave readings.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Around 56 percent of Spaniards identify as Catholic compared to 90 percent in the 1970s, according to a survey last month by the Centre for Sociological Research, an autonomous government body.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Balboa remembers a documentary made before the tournament in which a journalist traveled around New York and asked people to identify members of the World Cup team.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026
He got a lungful of urine and some other smells he didn’t want to identify and immediately regretted his choice of hideout.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Vocabulary lists containing identify
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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