Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To make a clear distinction; distinguish.
- intransitive verb To make distinctions on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit, especially to show prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or a similar social factor.
- intransitive verb To perceive or notice the distinguishing features of; recognize as distinct.
- intransitive verb To make or constitute a distinction in or between.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Discriminating-perceiving nice differences.
- Distinctive; discriminated.
- To distinguish from something else, or from each other; separate observe or mark the differences between, absolutely or by some note or sign of distinction: as, to
discriminate true from false modesty; to discriminate animals by names. - To select; pick out; make a distinction in regard to: as, to
discriminate certain persons from a crowd of applicants. - To make a difference or distinction; observe or note a difference; distinguish: as, to
discriminate between degrees of guilt.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having the difference marked; distinguished by certain tokens.
- transitive verb To set apart as being different; to mark as different; to separate from another by discerning differences; to distinguish.
- intransitive verb To make a difference or distinction; to distinguish accurately.
- intransitive verb To treat unequally.
- intransitive verb (Railroads) To impose unequal tariffs for substantially the same service.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
make distinctions . - verb intransitive To make decisions based on
prejudice .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb treat differently on the basis of sex or race
- verb recognize or perceive the difference
- adjective marked by the ability to see or make fine distinctions
- verb distinguish
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word discriminate.
Examples
-
To defend the rights of racists to discriminate is reprehensible and especially so when it is done by a major party nominee for the U.S. Senate ....
The Volokh Conspiracy » So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar 2010
-
During his campaign, President Obama said he believe marrigae should be between a man and a women, so for him to recognize that the law states you can not discriminate, is a start.
-
Wanting to allow someone to discriminate is not racist any more than wanting to allow someone to speak racist things is racist.
-
Wanting to allow someone to discriminate is not racist any more than wanting to allow someone to speak racist things is racist.
-
To claim that not allowing the bank to racially discriminate is an entitlement program clearly shows that.
Think Progress » DOJ official reportedly clears torture architects John Yoo and Jay Bybee. 2010
-
We "discriminate" - that is, we distinguish and discern by recognizing differences - all the time, and must do so.
Catholic Exchange Christopher West 2009
-
In Baltimore, ACORN staff assured O'Keefe and Giles that the group doesn't "discriminate" - i.e., has no standards whatsoever.
Latest Articles 2009
-
Rabinowitz: I have to dispute that, Dan, in the sense that the lack of discrimination in these judgments--I mean, the capacity to discriminate, which is to tell the difference between one thing and another, is the bulwark of intellectual capacity.
Obama vs. the Jets 2011
-
Rabinowitz: I have to dispute that, Dan, in the sense that the lack of discrimination in these judgments--I mean, the capacity to discriminate, which is to tell the difference between one thing and another, is the bulwark of intellectual capacity.
Obama vs. the Jets 2011
-
I know that one of the philosophical underpinnings of Creative Commons and other Open Content Licensing models is to not discriminate, which is why they are available to anyone.
Lessig's use of Flickr photos: is Creative Commons really a community? 2008
krista35bi commented on the word discriminate
Just for fun
February 16, 2010