denoted; denoting; denotes
1
: to serve as an indication of : betoken
the swollen bellies that denote starvation
2
: to serve as an arbitrary mark for
red flares denoting danger
3
: to make known : announce
his crestfallen look denoted his distress
4
a
: to serve as a linguistic expression of the notion of : mean
in the southern U.S., the word "toboggan" denotes a stocking cap
b
: to stand for : designate
the symbol / denotes "or," "and or," or "per"
An epiphany is, literally, a showing. In Christian terminology it denotes the showing of the infant Jesus to the three Magi.—
David Lodge
David LodgeExamples of denote in a Sentence
The word “derby” can denote a horse race or a kind of hat.
Her death denoted the end of an era.
Recent Examples on the Web
To simplify its naming conventions, all of the brand's budget-friendly models will be simply called Roomba moving forward, whereas midrange models will be called Roomba Plus, and the name Roomba Max will denote high-end robots.
—Andrew Gebhart, PCMAG, 11 Mar. 2025
The world ‘character’ denotes something less than attractive.
—Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
The idea was simple: the happy couple slice open a cake revealing icing colored either blue or pink to denote a boy or girl.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025
The word ‘character’ denotes something less than attractive.
—Todd Leopold, CNN, 27 Feb. 2025
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Andrew Gebhart, PCMAG, 11 Mar. 2025
The world ‘character’ denotes something less than attractive.
—Rick Jervis, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2025
The idea was simple: the happy couple slice open a cake revealing icing colored either blue or pink to denote a boy or girl.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025
The word ‘character’ denotes something less than attractive.
—Todd Leopold, CNN, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for denote
Cite this Entry
“Denote.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denote. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
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