differentiating

verb

present participle of differentiate
as in distinguishing
to understand or point out the difference in it was hard at first to differentiate between the two styles of music

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of differentiating As outlined above, the biggest challenge in assembling the list was differentiating between importance and form. — Dan Kilpatrick, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2026 As frontier models catch up with one another within weeks, data is becoming the differentiating factor in AI. — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026 Just as the internet eventually stopped differentiating companies, AI access will, too. — Haris Pylarinos, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026 The factory produces 2 million pounds of giardiniera a year, made from huge barrels of cut and cured pickles, carrots, celery, cauliflower and peppers, the latter ingredient differentiating the hot and mild varieties. — Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026 For KnitWell, managing and differentiating each of its women’s specialty fashion retailers can be challenging. — David Moin, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026 The Seahawks don’t give short shrift to special teams, differentiating them from the Rams and several others. — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Sep. 2026 The district said educators receive professional development on using the technology for tasks including instructional planning, developing lessons and resources and differentiating instruction. — Teresa Liu, Daily News, 4 Sep. 2026 The material has, in recent years, become a darling of the watch industry exactly for that reason—the exercise of the challenge itself is often a differentiating point in watchmaking. — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 1 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for differentiating
  1. distinguishing
  2. discriminating
Verb
  • For Jekyll-Hyde, the costumes are crucial and add to the characterization, distinguishing the two men inhabiting the same body.
    — Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
  • For voters scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, distinguishing between independent commentary and paid political advertising is becoming increasingly difficult.
    — Abby Dodge, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of distinguishing
Verb
  • The data from the brain reading classifier the team used for discriminating among meditation, rest, the movie, and the music tracked with the size of that shift.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Balochistan has endured a long-running insurgency by groups that accuse Pakistan of discriminating against the province and exploiting its natural resources.
    — MUNIR AHMED, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of discriminating

Browse Nearby Words

differentiates
differentiating
differentiation
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Differentiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/differentiating. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All