Word.ws English Dictionary

dictated

Syllables: dic·tat·edUK/ˌdɪkˈteɪtɪd/US/ˈdɪkˌteɪtɪd/

dictated is the simple past and past participle of dictate.

Meaning of dictate

Verb

dictate (third-person singular simple present dictates, present participle dictating, simple past and past participle dictated)

  1. To order, command, control.
    • Etiquette dictates that wedding invitations should be acknowledged in writing.
  2. To speak in order for someone to write down the words.
    • She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.
  3. To determine or decisively affect.
    • He had offered, and been refused! There was that in her own nature, which sympathised with the pride, for such she held to be the motive, dictating the refusal.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Return to Courtenaye Hall”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 151
    Synonyms:
    We issue replacements as necessity dictates.

See all 4 meanings of dictate

Words formed from dictated

Phrases with dictated

Questions about dictated

What is dictated the simple past and past participle of?
Dictated is the simple past and past participle of dictate.
How do you pronounce dictated?
Dictated is pronounced /ˌdɪkˈteɪtɪd/ (UK).

Words near dictated in the dictionary

  1. dictaphones
  2. dictaphonic
  3. dictat
  4. dictatable
  5. dictate
  6. dictated
  7. dictated but not read
  8. dictater
  9. dictaters
  10. dictates
  11. dictatest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dictated (page history and authors); dictate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “dictated.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dictated. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.