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nominate

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To name someone as a candidate for a particular role or position, including that of an office.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nahmuhnuht

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnɑmənət

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To name someone as a candidate for a particular role or position, including that of an office.

  2. billiards

    To specify in advance which pocket a ball will be potted in; to call; to name.

noun

  1. A nominee.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To name someone as a candidate for a particular role or position, including that of an office.

Used this way, nominate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use nominate

  • “The President nominated her as head of the Civil Rights Commission.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

nominate twonominate racenominate threehereby nominate

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • appoint

    To name (someone to a post or role).

  • make

    To appoint; to name.

  • name

    To designate for a role.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • nominating addressnounCompound term

    An address (usually at a political convention) proposing the name of a candidate to run for election.

  • nominating speechnounCompound term

    An address (usually at a political convention) proposing the name of a candidate to run for election.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to name someone as a candidate for a particular role

appoint

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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.