as in to differentiate
to understand or point out the difference in
those philistines who seemingly cannot secern artistic depiction of the nude from blatant pornography
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secern
Verb
-
The Mexican eatery splits its menu into three, differentiating between meat dishes, vegetarian items and vegan dishes to avoid any potential confusion.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
22 Apr. 2026 -
Those figures don't differentiate between Hezbollah terrorists and civilians.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In discussions of people like Michael Jackson, some defenders insist on distinguishing between the artist and the art, but a bio-pic is necessarily about both.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
John Rubin, the Albert Coates distinguished professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina School of Government, declined to talk about Brown’s case or any other case specifically.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Apr. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Secern.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secern. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
