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:
She still can imagine finding satisfaction in other fields — medicine, psychology, design — but the idea of giving up acting is almost impossible to comprehend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026
He has said: "The End of Everything is about trying to live as if nothing has gone wrong. It's a disaster story in which the disaster is the failure to comprehend."
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Locals, meanwhile, are struggling to comprehend why anyone would wish harm on the well-liked Haines.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
“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
Most of the “TB tribe” who knew about Farmer considered Socios en Salud’s work unorthodox and Farmer something of a maverick—a clinician too interested in individual patients to comprehend the global TB picture.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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
The Smith family comprehends this in ways most don't.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2022
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 intellectually comprehended this rule, but living through it was another thing entirely.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
“I could have never comprehended such a perfect opportunity to align with my goals as an artist and future arts leader and an arts advocate.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
“I don't think we really comprehended that at the time.”
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024
I regret to state that I was not afraid of telling the enormous lie comprehended in the answer “No.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
"She's nonverbal, so we're not sure how much she is comprehending about what is going on at the moment," Lauer told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
“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
Heqet’s eyes looked into his, wide and comprehending.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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