as in to differentiate
to understand or point out the difference in those philistines who seemingly cannot secern artistic depiction of the nude from blatant pornography

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for secern
Verb
  • The market didn’t seem to differentiate between the few Chinese pharmaceutical names manufactured in the US.
    Brendan Ahern, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • What differentiates these drugs is less a matter of their purpose, and more a matter of how our laws and media treat these drugs.
    P.E. Moskowitz September 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Code does not distinguish between voluntary and involuntary expatriation.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Its data did not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
    Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Secern.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secern. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

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