manifest

adjective

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man·i·fest | \ ˈma-nə-ˌfest

Definition of manifest

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : readily perceived by the senses and especially by the sense of sight Their sadness was manifest in their faces.

2 : easily understood or recognized by the mind : obvious

manifest

verb

manifested; manifesting; manifests

Definition of manifest (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

: to make evident or certain by showing or displaying

manifest

noun

Definition of manifest (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : manifestation, indication

2 : manifesto

3 : a list of passengers or an invoice of cargo for a vehicle (such as a ship or plane)

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Choose the Right Synonym for manifest

Adjective

evident, manifest, patent, distinct, obvious, apparent, plain, clear mean readily perceived or apprehended. evident implies presence of visible signs that lead one to a definite conclusion. an evident fondness for sweets manifest implies an external display so evident that little or no inference is required. manifest hostility patent applies to a cause, effect, or significant feature that is clear and unmistakable once attention has been directed to it. patent defects distinct implies such sharpness of outline or definition that no unusual effort to see or hear or comprehend is required. a distinct refusal obvious implies such ease in discovering that it often suggests conspicuousness or little need for perspicacity in the observer. the obvious solution apparent is very close to evident except that it may imply more conscious exercise of inference. for no apparent reason plain suggests lack of intricacy, complexity, or elaboration. her feelings about him are plain clear implies an absence of anything that confuses the mind or obscures the pattern. a clear explanation

Verb

show, manifest, evidence, evince, demonstrate mean to reveal outwardly or make apparent. show is the general term but sometimes implies that what is revealed must be gained by inference from acts, looks, or words. careful not to show his true feelings manifest implies a plainer, more immediate revelation. manifested musical ability at an early age evidence suggests serving as proof of the actuality or existence of something. a commitment evidenced by years of loyal service evince implies a showing by outward marks or signs. evinced not the slightest fear demonstrate implies showing by action or by display of feeling. demonstrated their approval by loud applause

Examples of manifest in a Sentence

Adjective The argument, for all of its manifest inadequacies … captured the national imagination and shaped subsequent religious discourse. It provided a vocabulary, an explanation, and a new set of boundaries for the restructured American religion that had by then been developing for half a century. — Jonathan D. Sarna, American Judaism, 2004 Economics, the great model among us now, indulges and deprives, builds and abandons, threatens and promises. Its imperium is manifest, irrefragable—as in fact it has been since antiquity. — Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam, 1998 Washington has long been uneasy about its relationship with Somalia, partly because of the manifest shakiness of the Siad Barre administration but also because of Somalia's continuing claims on the Ogaden. — John Borrell, Wall Street Journal, 23 Aug. 1982 His muscles were getting flabby, and his tailor called attention to his increasing waistband. In fact, Daylight was developing a definite paunch. This physical deterioration was manifest likewise in his face. — Jack London, Burning Daylight, 1910 Their sadness was manifest in their faces. His love for literature is manifest in his large library. There was manifest confusion in the streets. Verb Malone has invited Barkley to spend a week … to relax, talk some basketball, eat some hot Louisiana food and kick around the subject of frustration, something they both feel but manifest in different ways. — Jack McCallum, Sports Illustrated, 27 Apr. 1992 He asked what they had been doing in Dallas, and they told him that they were looking at the Sunbelt boom as manifested in the great Texas banks, thrifts and real estate operations. — John Kenneth Galbraith, A Tenured Professor, 1990 And if one is a pantheist … one might say that all nature is divinity and manifests itself in myriad forms and delightful complexities. — Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon, 1986 Both sides have manifested a stubborn unwillingness to compromise. Their religious beliefs are manifested in every aspect of their lives. Her behavior problems began manifesting themselves soon after she left home. Noun Since 2002, a program known as the Container Security Initiative requires our main trading partners to send to U.S. Customs and border Protection an electronic manifest for every U.S.-bound container twenty-four hours before it is loaded on a ship. — William Finnegan, New Yorker, 19 June 2006 Has any passenger manifest been more fretted over than the Mayflower's? — Jack Hitt, Harper's, July 2005 But for me, finding it still in "use" is high on the manifest of writerly thrills longed for—along with seeing someone you don't know hungrily reading your book on an overland bus in Turkey; or noticing your book on the shelf behind the moderator on Meet the Press next to The Wealth of Nations and Giants in the Earth; or seeing your book on a list of overlooked American masterpieces compiled by former insiders in the Kennedy administration. — Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective In architecture, this outlook was made manifest in the insipid giant glass boxes erected up and down Sixth Avenue in Manhattan and in other major cities from the 1950s to the 1970s. — David Harsanyi, National Review, "Washington, D.C., Deserves Its ‘Brutalism’," 29 Dec. 2020 Thus the Electoral College advantage to one party is not as manifest as commonly thought. — Star Tribune, "Readers Write: Electoral College, conservatism and liberalism," 18 Dec. 2020 The evidence of the failure is manifest in the tide of debt itself. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, "Column: Canceling student debt should be a slam dunk. Here’s why," 2 Dec. 2020 No government agency worth its salt would bring such a case, given the manifest absence of any such activity by FDRLST Media employees or of evidence that any employee failed to get the joke. — The Editors, National Review, "The NLRB’s Humorless Insensibility," 2 Dec. 2020 Hazeltine said manifest records from Rumpke, provided to the city by the solid waste district, were far too limited to determine how much recycling was being done. — Brian Lisik, cleveland, "Brunswick and Medina officials sound off on solid waste district’s five-year update," 17 Nov. 2020 With the Senate apparently remaining in the hands of Republicans, whose hostility to the law is manifest, that’s not likely to happen before the court rules. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, "Column: The Supreme Court Obamacare case centers on technicalities, but much more is at stake," 10 Nov. 2020 Eventually, however, the risks of his old deal with Brockman became manifest: Sometime between November 2013 and January 2014, Smith received a clue that U.S. tax officials were scrutinizing his accounts. — Washington Post, "A dodgy deal helped make him a billionaire. It worked, until now.," 9 Nov. 2020 As a lion of movies for half a century, Connery’s talent was manifest. — Jake Coyle, The Christian Science Monitor, "Sean Connery: A legacy that defined masculinity in a bygone era," 1 Nov. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Effects likely to manifest themselves for years, maybe decades, among Alabamians who survived the virus. — Roy S. Johnson | Rjohnson@al.com, al, "Johnson: Give up the Obama ghost Governor, expand Medicaid now," 21 Feb. 2021 And that’s gotta manifest itself on both ends of the floor. — Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "No. 12 Texas suffers meltdown in loss to No. 13 West Virginia," 20 Feb. 2021 Oncologists said testing algorithms on diverse populations is essential because of variations in the way cancers manifest themselves among different groups. — Casey Ross Reprints, STAT, "Could AI tools for breast cancer worsen disparities? Patchy public data in FDA filings fuel concern," 12 Feb. 2021 For 10 weeks, eight young members of the alliance learned from a team of Black social workers and educators about how mental health issues manifest within the Black community. — Angela Roberts, Washington Post, "The mental health field is overwhelmingly White. This group for Black Baltimore teens hopes to change that.," 9 Dec. 2020 For 10 weeks, the eight young members of the alliance learned about the ways in which mental health issues manifest within the Black community from a team of Black social workers and educators. — Angela Roberts, baltimoresun.com, "The mental health field is overwhelmingly white. This group for Black Baltimore teens is hoping to change that.," 3 Dec. 2020 But the way the symptoms of those conditions manifest will, of course, be unique to each individual. — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, "Stephen Amell on the Mental Health Toll of Having COVID-19," 28 Oct. 2020 Those expenditures will manifest themselves in the second quarter. — Tyler Van Dyke, Washington Examiner, "Federal deficit up more than 60% in first fiscal quarter," 13 Jan. 2021 The anger is real, but these forums are also the place of big talk that does not always manifest as action. — Jen Golbeck, Wired, "There’s No Excuse to Ignore Warnings of Domestic Terrorism," 12 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun So how does the warm layer that causes sleet manifest itself? — Washington Post, "Sleet versus snow: The reason behind Thursday’s icy mess," 19 Feb. 2021 These differences between being Latinx and American manifest in family gatherings when questions about our future plans and relationships are put on the spot. — Jennifer Mota, refinery29.com, "Doñas, It’s Time To End The “Y El Novio” Culture," 14 Dec. 2020 For now, the Fed sits atop the commanding heights of the economy—its growing authority unquestioned, its pride manifest. — Kevin Warsh, WSJ, "The Fed Puts Its Independence on the Line," 7 Sep. 2020 But films and television shows take years to produce, and audiences only really began to see the 2017 movement manifest onscreen last year, with movies like Bombshell and series like The Morning Show. — Eliana Dockterman, Time, "Pop Culture Reckoned With #MeToo in Radical New Ways in 2020—Even as It Receded From Headlines," 22 Dec. 2020 United Airlines said Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had requested the passenger manifest of a Monday flight from Orlando to Los Angeles that was diverted to New Orleans because of a medical emergency. — Hannah Sampson, Anchorage Daily News, "United Airlines passenger thought to have lied about COVID-19 symptoms dies during flight," 19 Dec. 2020 United Airlines said Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had requested the passenger manifest of an Orlando-to-Los-Angeles flight that diverted to New Orleans because of a medical emergency earlier in the week. — Washington Post, "National Digest: CDC looking into death on United flight," 18 Dec. 2020 Some conditions have a hereditary genetic link, but only manifest later in life, and then only when a particular event sparks them. — Kaitlyn Pirie, Woman's Day, "How Your Genes Impact Your Risk for 5 Common Health Issues," 5 Dec. 2020 Ken says in order to confirm the identity of a wreck like the Guerrero, archaeologists would need to find certain kinds of artifacts—perhaps items listed in the ship’s manifest like cannon or cargo. — Chris Searles, National Geographic, "Episode 4: The Search for History's Lost Slave Ships," 17 Nov. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'manifest.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

28 Feb 2021

Cite this Entry

“Manifest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifest. Accessed 3 Mar. 2021.

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More Definitions for manifest

manifest

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of manifest

(Entry 1 of 2)

formal

: able to be seen : clearly shown or visible

: easy to understand or recognize

manifest

verb

English Language Learners Definition of manifest (Entry 2 of 2)

formal : to show (something) clearly

See the full definition for manifest in the English Language Learners Dictionary

manifest

adjective

man·i·fest | \ ˈma-nə-ˌfest

Kids Definition of manifest

(Entry 1 of 2)

: easy to detect or recognize : obvious Their relief was manifest.

manifest

verb

manifested; manifesting

Kids Definition of manifest (Entry 2 of 2)

: to show plainly … her human curiosity … began to manifest itself …— Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer

manifest

adjective

man·i·fest | \ ˈma-nə-ˌfest

Legal Definition of manifest

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : capable of being readily perceived by the senses and especially by sight a manifest injury

2 : capable of being easily understood or recognized : clearly evident, obvious, and indisputable vacating an arbitrator's award because of the arbitrator's manifest disregard of the law

manifest

transitive verb

Legal Definition of manifest (Entry 2 of 3)

: to make evident or certain by showing or displaying manifesting the intent to make a gift