comprehend
Usage
What are other ways to say comprehend?
To comprehend is to know something thoroughly and to perceive its relationships to certain other ideas, facts, etc. To know is to be aware of something as a fact or truth: He knows the basic facts of the subject. I know that he agrees with me. To understand is to be fully aware not only of the meaning of something but also of its implications: I could comprehend all he said, but did not understand that he was joking.
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:
Jacob Coxon cautioned that both OpenAI and Anthropic are recklessly racing to build AI systems they cannot fully control or comprehend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Hard as it may seem now to comprehend, some people developed healthier relationships with others and had a stronger sense of their own place in the world.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Moves like that make it easy to comprehend that his ill-fated meanders could have been avoided if he’d followed the same directions that got everyone else home sooner.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
"The children constantly ask for their father and struggle to comprehend why he isn't home for bedtime or take them out as he used to. He was a very loving, involved father."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
It took me a moment to fully comprehend what he was saying.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
College Football Brain is why we still have Zombie Bowl games layered on top of this 12-team playoff, as if anyone actually cares or comprehends why the quarterfinal needs to masquerade as the Cotton Bowl.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
Lewis came up with an approach and strategy that showed that she, at least, is an American who now comprehends the true dynamics that yield success in these matches.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
They communicate verbally and also, often in games, only with a nod or a look that the other instantly comprehends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2024
“I don’t think she comprehends the breadth and depth of the suffering she has caused,” a tearful Ruetten said.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
But also he would have understood the other part, which I don’t think even Mercer comprehends.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Manjusri, with a calm smile, gently raises his hand to counter that the true nonmaterial essence of the Buddha can never be comprehended before transcending the material world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
"I hadn't really comprehended the fact that maybe I was," Bell tells BBC Sport.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
I intellectually comprehended this rule, but living through it was another thing entirely.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
Whether he survived Nandor's wrath became less important than whether Guillermo fully understood what he professed to desire most and whether Nandor comprehended how essential Guillermo is to his well-being.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2023
He opened his eyes and seized it, took it in, comprehended it all at once, and found that it came accompanied by a fierce determination, a sense of rising resolution.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
“Higher capacity is required for complex transactions like contracts, which require not just grasping the immediate exchange, but also comprehending finer details, consequences and the broader context.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
And once comprehending, shall he go with the flow?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
Yet as commander in chief, wisely comprehending that no war to save the Union could be waged, much less won, exclusively by Republicans, Lincoln sought out Democrats to help battle secession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
"They can't remember what things are called, can't finish a sentence, have trouble comprehending a text."
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
Amari replied with a nod, not exactly understanding what Polly had said but comprehending the idea.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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List 4
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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