identify
Frequently Asked Questions
- recognize—to be able to tell what something is (and often to know its name), as in He immediately identified/recognized it as a monarch butterfly.
- diagnose or pinpoint, as in My mechanic was finally able to identify/diagnose/pinpoint the problem.
- associate, such as with a certain group or belief, as in She’s known for identifying/associating with the party’s reform wing.
- distinguish, as in Her height identified/distinguished her as the volleyball player.
- establish (who someone is), as in He has been identified/established as the main suspect. Relatedly, to identify someone is to figure out who they are—to establish their identity.
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:
Forensic analysis was unable to identify the writer.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
In a paper titled “Terra Incognita: The Economics of a Shrinking World,” University of Pennsylvania economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde and Northwestern economics researcher Patrick Norrick crunch demographic data to identify trends in population across the globe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Because the study was observational, it cannot establish that Neu5Gc causes type 2 diabetes or identify precisely which factors are responsible for the higher risk.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
On Saturday, the FBI said it was continuing to work “with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident” and identify the responsible parties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
The drivers are all wearing American flag face coverings so we can’t identify them.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said endometriosis can have a "devastating impact" on women's lives and said the government's renewed Women's Health Strategy identifies it as a priority condition.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
One of those wrongly identified was a Chinese American whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a New York-based finance professional who graduated from Cornell University in 2020 -- four years before the alleged rape.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
The discovery, published in Cell Metabolism, identifies PD-L2 as a potential target for therapies aimed at eliminating harmful aging cells.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
The system identifies whether an enemy drone may be vulnerable to electronic warfare and executes a defense accordingly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
When Xander ran a test on one of my cameras, I observed that he has pale white skin, gray eyes, and hair that my system identifies as having both red and brown pigments.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
The media members have yet to be identified.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
“Several of the initiatives we identified as drivers of future earnings growth are developing more favorably than originally expected,” Goncalves said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
The airman, identified, external by the military as Sgt Ian Patterson, a Tactical Air Control Party instructor at Joint Base San Antonio, died in hospital.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
The names of those who lost their lives have not been identified but their families have been informed.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
“My ears were covered by rubberized flower petals. Are you saying my head librarian, Dr. Yanina Zinchenko, has incorrectly identified the answer as ‘Shrove Tuesday, 1497?’”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
The investigation concentrated on identifying the brain connections that should receive stimulation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2026
I taped over pictures of myself and put away anything with personal information, so that Tau Robotics’ bipedal robots wouldn’t collect any identifying data.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Bennett explained that "a certain evidential threshold" had to be reached before identifying individuals online, but said as a council they did not want to "shy away" from the problem.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
Near the exhibit’s end, Philips van den Bossche’s panoramic 1606 print of Prague highlights the city’s towers, spires and bridges, with its ledger identifying the Cathedral of St. Vitus in particular.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Quiz tomorrow on identifying subatomic particles. Just hang tight until it’s time to go.”
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Vocabulary lists containing identify
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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