1. Select or name a person, place or thing for a specified role, purpose or status.
2. Chosen to assume an office or role at a later time.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- designate a representative
- designate an area
- designate a category
On the page
Each team designated a representative who could explain how its data had been collected.
The plan designated the riverside strip as a protected habitat.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- designate
- Past tense
- designated
- Past participle
- designated
- Present participle
- designating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- designate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are designating
- Present perfect
- have/has designated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been designating
- Past
- designated
- Past continuous
- was/were designating
- Past perfect
- had designated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been designating
- Future
- will designate
- Future continuous
- will be designating
- Future perfect
- will have designated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been designating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: designate; designates; designated; designated; designating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, qualification. Disciplines: general academic writing. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: designates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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