comprehension

noun

com·pre·hen·sion ˌkäm-pri-ˈhen(t)-shən

-prē-

Synonyms of comprehension next

: the act or action of grasping with the intellect : understanding

children who have difficulty with comprehension of spoken language

What the artist actually needs is comprehension of his aims and ideals by men he respects …—

H. L. Mencken

: knowledge gained by comprehending

tests that measure the students' comprehension in math

She carried on with full comprehension of the risk involved.

: the capacity for understanding fully

mysteries that are beyond our comprehension

The war caused suffering beyond comprehension.

: the act or process of comprising

the comprehension of all the denominations into one Church

: the faculty or capability of including : comprehensiveness

the broad comprehension of the word "animal"

: connotation sense 3

Examples of comprehension in a Sentence

The students showed excellent reading comprehension. the president's comprehension of the current situation in the Middle East

Recent Examples on the Web This requires good comprehension of business operations, the terminology and language used and clarity on the implications of what happens to the operations when things go awry. —

Steve Durbin, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Many, if not most, published research papers have titles that defy comprehension. —

Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2023 The earliest levels start by teaching children their names and range from just starting out with letters up to 2nd grade comprehension tests. —

Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2023 What draws the audience in is its imperfection, its cosmic comprehension of what connects us, inspires us, and tests our resolve as humans in search of purpose. —

Jason Parham, WIRED, 31 Aug. 2023 Two years ago, the Egyptian government tried overhauling the exams to emphasize comprehension over rote learning, a shift intended to stamp out tutoring, where memorization is king. —

Vivian Yee, New York Times, 6 Aug. 2023 But the way her mom was stolen from her defies comprehension. —

Holly Yan, CNN, 30 Aug. 2023 Perishable publications Many, if not most, published research papers have titles that defy comprehension. —

Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2023 When measuring areas of functional financial literacy, people score the lowest when tested on the categories of investing, insurance and risk comprehension. —

Shyam Pradheep, Forbes, 17 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comprehension.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.