How to Use distinguish in a Sentence

distinguish

verb
  • The singer's voice is what distinguishes the band.
  • The only thing that distinguishes the dogs is their bark.
  • You can't distinguish the detail from this distance.
  • I have trouble distinguishing between the two of them.
  • You should be able to distinguish fact from fantasy.
  • I have trouble distinguishing the difference between the two of them.
  • You're old enough to distinguish between fact and fantasy.
  • The key to distinguishing the two can be found in the small print.
    Marnie Old, Philly.com, 2 July 2018
  • The days passed without much to distinguish one from the next.
    Tove Ditlevsen, The New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2021
  • The gender of the mummies can be distinguished by the shape of their hands.
    NBC News, 19 Oct. 2019
  • Part of the goal of the rebrand was to distinguish the beers from each other.
    Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 25 Jan. 2021
  • Look for signs to distinguish one group from the other.
    Natalie B. Compton, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Was that your team trying to find ways to distinguish you?
    Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2022
  • Most of these young people are savvy enough to read between the lines and distinguish the truth from the fluff.
    Meimei Fox, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Howell is quick to distinguish a putting course from a putting green.
    Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Nov. 2021
  • This prompted me to grow up very fast and to distinguish myself.
    Marc Myers, WSJ, 1 Mar. 2022
  • The black smaller eye would not be able to distinguish shapes because of the sun’s light.
    Swapna Krishna, Smithsonian, 13 Feb. 2017
  • So the drones could be programmed to distinguish a dog poo from, say, a rock?
    Jeremy White, Wired, 31 May 2021
  • Is a different meaning of the art enough to distinguish the two?
    Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 12 Oct. 2022
  • The amount of exercise did not distinguish those who lost more from those who lost less.
    Gina Kolata, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2017
  • There are three key metrics here that can help distinguish this tool.
    Joe Truini, Popular Mechanics, 24 June 2019
  • And a study found that people could not distinguish the real comments from the fake ones.
    Will Knight, Wired, 15 Jan. 2021
  • It is most easily distinguished by its habit of dwelling in trees.
    Tim MacWelch, Outdoor Life, 3 May 2023
  • Consumers are drawn to brands that distinguish themselves for the right reasons.
    John Hall, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2021
  • As of now, its system is unable to distinguish between the two.
    Phil McCausland, NBC News, 29 July 2022
  • How could a career so distinguished have been overlooked for so long?
    Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, 18 Jan. 2020
  • But there are ways to distinguish poison hemlock that are unique only to it.
    Emily Deletter, The Enquirer, 6 Aug. 2021
  • The map is color-coded to distinguish between types of ships.
    Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY, 17 May 2022
  • Gingham and plaid are both checked patterns, but they can be distinguished in a few key ways.
    Cori Sears, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Dec. 2023
  • Low prices and high speed are two of fast fashion’s distinguishing marks.
    Marc Bain, Quartzy, 21 Nov. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'distinguish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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