Word.ws English Dictionary

penetrated

Syllables: pen·e·trat·ed/ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪtɪd/

penetrated is the simple past and past participle of penetrate.

Meaning of penetrate

Verb

penetrate (third-person singular simple present penetrates, present participle penetrating, simple past and past participle penetrated)

  1. To enter into; to make way into the interior of; to pierce.
    • Light penetrates darkness.
    Synonyms:
    ransack
  2. (figuratively) To achieve understanding of, despite some obstacle; to comprehend; to understand.
    • I could not penetrate Burke's opaque rhetoric.
  3. To affect profoundly through the senses or feelings; to move deeply.
    • to penetrate one's heart with pity
  4. To infiltrate an enemy to gather intelligence.
  5. To insert the penis into an orifice, such as a vagina, mouth, or anus.
    • a male elephant comes up and penetrates the female
  6. To move a piece past the defending pieces of one's opponent.

Phrases with penetrated

Questions about penetrated

What is penetrated the simple past and past participle of?
Penetrated is the simple past and past participle of penetrate.
How do you pronounce penetrated?
Penetrated is pronounced /ˈpɛnɪtɹeɪtɪd/.

Words near penetrated in the dictionary

  1. penetrancy
  2. penetrant
  3. penetrantly
  4. penetrants
  5. penetrate
  6. penetrated
  7. penetratee
  8. penetratees
  9. penetrates
  10. penetratest
  11. penetratin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: penetrated (page history and authors); penetrate (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-penetrated.ogg.

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