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:
“They’re not frolicking anymore. She’s being faced with something that she couldn’t previously comprehend because she doesn’t have that darkness within her.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
"We cannot comprehend what the families of the three fishermen are going through at the moment."
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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
At first, she struggled to comprehend the danger.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
Sometimes, when there’s been an accident and reality is too sudden and strange to comprehend, the surreal will take over.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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
But she comprehends that how things look or sound matters more than what’s happening.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2024
He comprehends it, being a man full grown, able to oversee the kind of house Zeus would endow with honor.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
They are to be relished if not comprehended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
“The Argonauts” revolutionized the way queer family-making is written about, talked about and comprehended.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
"I don't think 13-year-old me could have comprehended what I'm feeling now."
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2023
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
"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
‘The star-glass?’ muttered Frodo, as one answering out of sleep, hardly comprehending.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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