distinguish

verb

1)

distinguishing reality from fantasy

Syn:

differentiate, tell apart, discriminate between, tell the difference between

2)

he could distinguish shapes in the dark

Syn:

discern, see, perceive, make out; detect, recognize, identify; literary descry, espy

3)

this is what distinguishes history from other disciplines

Syn:

separate, set apart, make distinctive, make different; single out, mark off, characterize

•

- distinguish oneself

••

distinguish, descry, differentiate, discern, discriminate

What we discern we see apart from all other objects (to discern the lighthouse beaming on the far shore). Descry puts even more emphasis on the distant or unclear nature of what we're seeing (the lookout was barely able to descry a man approaching in the dusk). To discriminate is to perceive the differences between or among things that are very similar; it may suggest that some aesthetic evaluation is involved (to discriminate between two painters' styles). Distinguish requires making even finer distinctions among things that resemble each other even more closely (unable to distinguish the shadowy figures moving through the forest). Distinguish can also mean recognizing by some special mark or outward sign (the sheriff could be distinguished by his silver badge). Differentiate, on the other hand, suggests the ability to perceive differences between things that are easily confused. In contrast to distinguish, differentiate suggests subtle differences that must be compared in some detail (the color of her dress was difficult to differentiate from the color of the chair in which she was seated; it took a sharp eye to distinguish where her skirt ended and the upholstery began) If you have trouble differentiating among these closely related verbs, you're not alone.