discern

“Traditionally, it isn’t so much about somebody being more moderate,” he said, in part because voters can’t always discern moderation among candidates of an opposing party.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Is that really what viewers want, to not be able to discern reality, even with all its limitations?

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

Tulane said the tool “has compromised our ability to discern which ‘Why Tulane’ responses are artificially polished,” according to a note the dean of admissions sent to the college’s counseling network.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Matejka started thinking that it could have been so much easier to discern the flaws if he had been able to somehow walk the space.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

As a reader works his way through a text, the next challenge is to keep track of the ideas that run through it and to discern the logical relationship between one idea and the next.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Here and elsewhere, Ms. Chan brings artists and their audience to life in a few telling lines, and discerns music-sharing motivations in brushstrokes, embroidery and regalia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

The bad news, however, is that the patterns Turchin discerns suggest that the crisis will almost certainly get worse.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2023

Through his meditations on William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” Nemo discerns that liberation can only be attained through creation.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 16, 2023

Right up to today, Mead’s keen eye discerns strategies and patterns that may have gone unnoticed.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2022

There are three kinds of intelligence: one understands on its own; the second discerns what others understand; and the third neither understands by itself nor through others.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Only so much about the subjects who are made the focus of the program can be discerned from flimsy data that’s some 2,000 years old.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

The 1924 Immigration Act limited immigration so drastically, that it can be discerned by a distinct bend in the chart of US annual population growth.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Myanmar has a rich culture of fortune-telling, and many believe the future can be discerned by mystics.

From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025

Despite police officers’ efforts to allow political speech, all that could be heard were jeers and insults, though the word “sham” could be discerned amid the din.

From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024

Between the echoing blasts of fireworks, I discerned a flapping sound like the unfurling of membranous wings.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

I completed one slow circuit, attempting to look discerning.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

A key element of that training is discerning the difference between psychological and spiritual problems, he said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

The caveat is that they are not making the decisions, but are discerning the mood.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

In Europe, where local governments are often more discerning when it comes to design, the push to create more attractive data centers is already well under way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Giffen's was the polish ordered by all discerning butlers of the time, and if this product was used correctly, one had no fear of one's silver being second best to anybody's.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro