Word.ws English Dictionary

discriminates

discriminates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of discriminate.

Meaning of discriminate

Verb

discriminate (third-person singular simple present discriminates, present participle discriminating, simple past and past participle discriminated)

  1. (intransitive) To make distinctions.
    • Since he was color blind he was unable to discriminate between the blue and green bottles.
    Synonyms:
    distinguish
  2. To treat or affect differently, depending on differences in traits.
    • Low self-esteem can affect both rich and poor people: it doesn't discriminate.
    1. (intransitive) To make decisions harmful to (a person or group) based on prejudice.
      • The law prohibits discriminating against people based on their skin color.
    2. (intransitive, uncommon) To infringe upon (a person's rights) in a prejudicial manner.
      • The ordinance condones immorality and discriminates against my children's rights to grow up in a healthy, decent community.1977 January 19, Anita Bryant, quotee, “Bias Against Homosexuals Is Outlawed in Miami”, in The New York Times, page 14
  3. (transitive) To set apart as being different; to mark as different; to separate from another by discerning differences; to distinguish.
    • To discriminate the goats from the sheep.1670-7, Isaac Barrow, “Sermon XX: Against rash Censuring and Judging”, in The Theological Works, volume 1, published 1818, page 448

See all 6 meanings of discriminate

Phrases with discriminates

Questions about discriminates

What is discriminates the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Discriminates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of discriminate.

Words near discriminates in the dictionary

  1. discriminated-against
  2. discriminatee
  3. discriminatees
  4. discriminately
  5. discriminateness
  6. discriminates
  7. discriminating
  8. discriminatingly
  9. discrimination
  10. discriminational
  11. discriminations

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: discriminates (page history and authors); discriminate (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: “discriminates.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discriminates. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.