distinguishverb
uk/dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/us/dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/B2 [ I or T, not continuous ] to notice or understand the difference between two things, or to make one person or thing seem different from another:
He's colour-blind and can't distinguish (the difference) between red and green easily.
I sometimes have difficulty distinguishing Spanish from Portuguese.
It's important to distinguish between business and pleasure.
It's not the beauty so much as the range of his voice that distinguishes him from other tenors.
distinguish yourself
to do something so well that you are admired and praised for it:
He distinguished himself as a writer at a very early age.
More examples
- They look so similar it's often difficult to distinguish one from the other.
- The male bird displays several characteristics which distinguish him from the female.
- It's his eye for detail that distinguishes him as a painter.
- It can be difficult to distinguish between poisonous and edible mushrooms.
- Teachers have to learn to distinguish between behaviour problems associated with learning difficulties and behaviour problems linked to something else.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Identifying
- ascribe sth to sb
- biometric
- character recognition
- color-coded
- colour-coded
- dog tag
- id
- ID card
- identifiable
- identification
- identify
- paper
- passport
- pick
- separate the sheep from the goats idiom
- sheep
- tag
- tell
- tell sth/sb apart
- traceable
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Succeeding, achieving and fulfilling
distinguishable
adjective uk/dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪ.ʃə.bəl/us/dɪˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪ.ʃə.bəl/
There are at least 20 distinguishable dialects of the language just on the south island.