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Glite Dictionary
💡 To comprehend 📰 To believe 🤝 To be sympathetic 🗣️ To know language
to understand

to understand

∞ 1.0
To believe something is true from what you hear or read
  • verb
  • /ˌʌndərˈstænd/
translation icon : tener entendido
  • We need educational leaders who understand what education is and how it serves society.

Margot, I've come to understand, considers me not white.

Examples

  • Or, of course, now I understand she does love me after all.

  • So please please please understand it's not a perfect science.

  • And then I just want people to understand why.

  • I want them to understand my point of view.

  • Look, I should have tried harder to understand what you were doing here.

    Theater Camp (2023)

  • How can I make you understand?

    Jack Be Nimble (1993)

  • Dear Mr. Tippetts, It's important that you understand why I had to do what I did.

    Rampage (1987)

  • I understand you're from Los Angeles.

    Werewolf Cabal (2022)

  • Would our alien teachers understand how fundamental and precious love is for human beings?

    Academic text (1999)

  • I want everyone in the team to understand the importance of collaboration.

Synonyms

to believe
vsto understand
∞ 1.0

Accept that something is true or trust a person

is acceptance based specifically on what one has heard, read, or inferred
to read
vsto understand
∞ 1.8

To look at signs or actions and understand what they mean

is treating those interpretations as true when hearing or reading
to perceive
vsto understand
369 3.0

To become aware of something in your mind and understand it

is accepting information as true rather than merely noticing or becoming aware
to conceive
vsto understand
84 4.7

To imagine something or think about it in a certain way

is accepting that idea as true based on evidence heard, read, or inferred
to infer
vsto understand
57 5.5

Decide that something is true using evidence

is acceptance of that conclusion as true after hearing or reading information

Antonyms

to misunderstand
53 1.8

To think something is true when it is not

Idioms

easy to understand
27 1.0

Simple and clear so most people can know what it means quickly

Phrasal Verbs

to understand the assignment
  • Informal
1 3.9

To know exactly what you must do for a task

to understand the history behind
3.9

To know the past events that lead to something

How Certain

to know
∞ 1.0
to believe
∞ 1.0
to understand
∞ 1.0
to suspect
925 3.6
to think
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

understand infinitive
understanding present participle
understands third person singular
understood past
understood past participle

Etymology

Understand comes from under and stand, with a sense of 'standing with' or being aware of something you have heard. A helpful way to remember this is to think you 'stand with' a piece of news, which is why saying you understand something can mean you accept or believe it.