acknowledge
verb
Simple meaning
To accept that something is true or exists.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aknahlijSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ækˈnɑlɪdʒ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
transitive
To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
transitive
To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
transitive
To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).
“The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper.”
transitive
To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of
This meaning emphasizes admitting the truth or existence of something, often after some hesitation or doubt. It’s stronger than simply 'confirm' because it implies a recognition that wasn't necessarily present before.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
News report
“The company had to acknowledge faults in their new product line.”
Professional email
“Please acknowledge that you have read and understood these new guidelines.”
Literary context (character's thoughts)
“She had to acknowledge the truth of his harsh words.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use acknowledge
- “He never acknowledges his colleagues when they run into him in the hallway.”verb
- “The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper.”verb
- “We must acknowledge the kindness she showed towards us.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Recognized or made known or admitted.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: declare to be true or admit the existence
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Related Learning
Guides that use this word in context.
Professional
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.