discriminate Hear it!

discriminate Definition

dis·crimi·nate (di skrim′i nāt′; for adj., -nit)

transitive verb -·nat′ed, -·nat′·ing

  1. to constitute a difference between; differentiate
  2. to recognize the difference between; distinguish

Etymology: < L discriminatus, pp. of discriminare, to divide, distinguish < discrimen, division, distinction < discernere: see discern

intransitive verb

  1. to see the difference (between things); distinguish
  2. to be discerning
  3. to make distinctions in treatment; show partiality (in favor of) or prejudice (against)

adjective

involving discrimination; distinguishing carefully

discriminate Synonyms

discriminate

v.

  1. To differentiate

    distinguish, specify, separate, tell apart; see distinguish 1. See syn. study at distinguish.

  2. To be prejudiced

    show partiality, prejudge, be biased, be a bigot, set apart, segregate, victimize; see also favor 2, hate 1, separate 2.

discriminate Usage Examples

Object

  • taste: Moreover, that Manchester giant has plenty of clout, has discriminating taste and ' some of the most distinguished poets in Britain.
  • collector: It is no wonder that Steiff teddy bears have remained so greatly prized by discriminating collectors.

Preposition: on

  • ground: Credit scoring does not discriminate on the grounds of sex, race, religion, disability or color.
  • basis: It is not unlawful to discriminate on the basis of the result of such tests.

Preposition: against

  • humanist: Current practice plainly discriminates against humanists and all who conscientiously reject religious beliefs.
  • applicant: Don't discriminate against applicants, for example on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
  • employe: From 1 October 2006 it will be unlawful to discriminate against an employe on the basis of his/her age.
  • person: Additionally Open Source licenses mustn't discriminate against any person or group or restrict anyone from making use of the program.

Preposition: between

applicant: We cannot discriminate between two applicants who request the same information.

Used with adjective complement

do: We do not discriminate against anybody on any grounds, nor should we.

Preposition: at

frame-level: This is unlike approaches such as discriminatively trained Gaussian mixture models or other discriminative classifiers that discriminate at the frame-level only.

Modifying Another Word

  • unlawfully: In 1999 the Government published a code of practice for employers on how to comply with section 8 without discriminating unlawfully.
  • indirectly: There was no evidence to suggest that the closures will directly or indirectly discriminate against DWP staff or customers.
  • unfairly: Some think that existing users on the yearly rate would feel unfairly discriminated against.
  • racially: He claimed that he had been racially discriminated against between July 1999 and September 2002.
  • unjustifiably: They must be based on sound science and must not arbitrarily or unjustifiably discriminate between trading partners.
  • blatantly: Another family decided against court action in spite of being blatantly discriminated against in relation to enrollment in the local high school.

Preposition: in

favor: Theoretically the state supports the family by supporting individuals in whatever choices they make, without discriminating in favor of any one family type.