Synonyms for identify
Most common
All synonyms
Verb
1. Recognize
recognize UK US, recognise UK, discover, find, distinguish, describe, characterize, characterise UK, differentiate, key out, key, name, notice
Definitions
- v. 1
To establish the identity of someone or something.
It was hard to identify the shoplifter because the CCTV records didn't have a clear image.
Related words
- Word family
- identifiable identical identification identity
Forms
- Past participle
- identified
e.g. identified → recognized, discovered, distinguished, described…
Example sentences
- describe Please describe to me exactly what happened there.
- discover How foolish I was not to discover that simple lie!
- distinguish We cannot distinguish her from her younger sister.
- characterize How would you characterize the economy right now?
- unite Oceans do not so much divide the world as unite it.
- verify Could you verify that your computer is plugged in?
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| identify | rising | |
| describe | rising | |
| discover | rising | |
| distinguish | steady | |
| characterize | rising | |
| unite | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- key1
- 4 letters
- find1, name1
- 5 letters
- place1, unite2
- 6 letters
- notice2, verify3
- 8 letters
- describe2, discover3
- 9 letters
- recognize3, recognise3
- 11 letters
- distinguish3
- 12 letters
- characterize4, characterise
- 13 letters
- differentiate5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (unite2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- identifier
- Italiano
- distinguere
- Español
- identificar
- Deutsch
- identifizieren
- Català
- identificar