SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
discerning
adjective
Able to notice and judge important differences or qualities.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Showing keen judgment
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topDiscriminating emphasizes fine distinctions; judicious emphasizes sound decisions.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The discerning family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
discernmentnoun
The ability to notice distinctions and make sound judgments.
Sound perceptive judgment
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
Selecting the strongest arguments required discernment.
Before printing, Ravi agreed to scrutinize the route notes, comparing each address with the organizer's confirmed location list. His discernment helped him separate a harmless variation in a building's nickname from a genuinely wrong street number.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See discerning in use
A discerning buyer examined the stitching before making a choice.
Jules was a discerning reader who noticed subtle differences between confident description and unsupported interpretation.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license