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:
“There is no privileged access to understanding its direction. You need to look through as many windows as possible. We humans are limited and exhausted and can’t comprehend the world in its fullness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
“We just couldn’t comprehend the enormity of it. There was some comfort in watching it as a group. But not much.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Huang said that world models, which are designed to comprehend real-world physics, may still struggle to actually achieve that goal in three years.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
Wales' own golden girl now has, but the rider herself would not comprehend the comparisons.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
“It seems to me you fail to comprehend the cause of the disrespect of which you complain,” Anthony said.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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
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
While performing in the viola section of an orchestra recently, my mind drifted briefly to the complex method through which the brain comprehends time.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2023
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
Online discourse about any show ignites an array of interpretations concerning the producers’ choices, along with revealing who comprehended King’s overarching messages concerning fear.
From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2025
I intellectually comprehended this rule, but living through it was another thing entirely.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
“The Argonauts” revolutionized the way queer family-making is written about, talked about and comprehended.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
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
I stared, at first not comprehending at all.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
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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