How to Use distinguish in a Sentence

distinguish

verb
Definition of distinguishnext
Synonyms for distinguishnext
  • The only thing that distinguishes the dogs is their bark.
  • I have trouble distinguishing the difference between the two of them.
  • You're old enough to distinguish between fact and fantasy.
  • Host Sean Evans asked the actors what distinguishes a leak from being a good thing or hurting a movie.
    — Tatiana Tenreyro, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 July 2024
  • Absence seizures are distinguished by their lack of activity or movement.
    — Smita Patel, Verywell Health, 19 July 2024
  • The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies, but says that women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
    — CBS News, 4 May 2024
  • With so much hype clouding the term, obscuring its finer points like smoke does a skyline, it’s become difficult to distinguish medicine from marketing.
    — Jolene Edgar, Allure, 1 May 2024
  • The numbers come from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
    — Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 16 Apr. 2024
  • The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but officials, aid groups and activists say most of the casualties are women and children.
    — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
  • The key to distinguishing the two can be found in the small print.
    — Marnie Old, Philly.com, 2 July 2018
  • The gender of the mummies can be distinguished by the shape of their hands.
    — NBC News, 19 Oct. 2019
  • The days passed without much to distinguish one from the next.
    — Tove Ditlevsen, The New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2021
  • The zoo has used a dye to distinguish them for the last 30 years, Shearer said.
    — Kate Perez, USA TODAY, 14 June 2023
  • Part of the goal of the rebrand was to distinguish the beers from each other.
    — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 25 Jan. 2021
  • The large size has the iconic slide rule that has distinguished the brand since 1953.
    — Carol Besler, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Look for signs to distinguish one group from the other.
    — Natalie B. Compton, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2023
  • So the drones could be programmed to distinguish a dog poo from, say, a rock?
    — Jeremy White, Wired, 31 May 2021
  • The black smaller eye would not be able to distinguish shapes because of the sun’s light.
    — Swapna Krishna, Smithsonian, 13 Feb. 2017
  • Most of these young people are savvy enough to read between the lines and distinguish the truth from the fluff.
    — Meimei Fox, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Was that your team trying to find ways to distinguish you?
    — Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2022
  • The new Amels 200 is the fourth hull in the series and is once again distinguished by a few custom touches.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Of course, Tom Brady is hot, too, with a few distinguishing marks of his own.
    — Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2018
  • Howell is quick to distinguish a putting course from a putting green.
    — Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Nov. 2021
  • This prompted me to grow up very fast and to distinguish myself.
    — Marc Myers, WSJ, 1 Mar. 2022
  • Rousseau distinguished two forms of self-love, amour de soi and amour-propre.
    — Anthony Gottlieb, New York Times, 21 June 2018
  • The amount of exercise did not distinguish those who lost more from those who lost less.
    — Gina Kolata, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2017
  • Is a different meaning of the art enough to distinguish the two?
    — Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2022
  • And a study found that people could not distinguish the real comments from the fake ones.
    — Will Knight, Wired, 15 Jan. 2021
  • As of now, its system is unable to distinguish between the two.
    — Phil McCausland, NBC News, 29 July 2022
  • There’s a subtle symphony of aroma that distinguishes you from me, beyond the strong odor of our armpits.
    — Sarah Everts, TIME, 16 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'distinguish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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