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.
See Examples For:
Keynes consequently tried to identify how government institutions could keep interest rates down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
It’s supposed to identify who’s medically at risk in a cell with no air conditioning.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
The researchers suggested each local groundwater agency identify the smaller farmers, consider exempting those that use minimal water and set fees in a tiered system that allows growers who pump less to pay less.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Aside from Kearney, it stated that eight other journalists had been the subject of unlawful monitoring to identify their sources.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Farther along, the men’s section was also at the siding; it was impossible to identify individuals among the shaved heads glistening in the autumn sun.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In practice, according to the federal judge who’s spent two years staring at how it works, it identifies almost nobody.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
Williamson, who is nonbinary and identifies under the trans umbrella, said it is “already very scary being openly queer in Perris,” where the Harry Potter experience is hosted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Scientists then examined those fragments with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer, an instrument that identifies ions by measuring how quickly they reach a detector.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
This clothing, says Mr. Robbins, identifies the latter as the evangelist St. Luke, patron saint of artists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Number 1, a mousy blonde who identifies herself as Marie F, climbs the stairs beside the stage and slouches to a microphone.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
The Home Office said Yuk attempted to hide his identity after Border Security Command approached the vessel, but was identified using drone footage of the crossing and later arrested.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Environment Minister Dabrusin in her decision identified possible adverse effects from the project on fish, water quality, migratory birds and indigenous communities, but concluded it was in the public interest for Crawford to be built.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Jeffrey C. Illes, a Chicago-area viewer who identified himself as a Republican, wrote in support of Disney’s WSL-TV station.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"It does not specify what constitutes hate speech, how it will be defined, on what criteria, or how those who produce such speech will be identified," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
The ancients did refer to the ‘laws’ of nature when they wanted to say that nature is regular and predictable, but they never identified any particular scientific principle as a law.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Officials released the two notes on Friday, asking the public for help identifying the writer, whose "distinct linguistic characteristics may be recognisable".
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
A hedge-fund blowup as a guidepost for identifying turning points in markets can be tricky, according to Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Neuroscience has made enormous progress in identifying brain regions and networks associated with awareness.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
Brandon Nelson of Calamos Investments considers the earnings-season beat-and-raise pattern in identifying companies primed for sustainable growth and improving profit margins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The only thing that made a difference, Payne found, was slowing the experiment down and forcing people to wait a beat before identifying the object on the screen.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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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