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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for secern
Verb
  • The Training Day star attributed the shift in how people came to pronounce his name to his mother, who needed a way to differentiate between him and his father, who shares the same name.
    Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The rule dates back to the 19th century and was founded by old-money circles in the Northeast to differentiate themselves from the nouveau riche trying to infiltrate the social elite.
    Starr Bowenbank, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Code does not distinguish between voluntary and involuntary expatriation.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Its data did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
    Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Secern.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secern. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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