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Definition
to notice or understand something — often something that is not obvious- The second picture has more pixels, but the human eye can't discern the difference.
discern = notice or see (something that is not obvious)
- The study measured the ability of various age groups to discern slanted news reports.
- In the novel, she sees through his friendly facade and discerns his evil intent.
- The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.Martin Luther King Jr.
- It was impossible to discern clear facial features, but he was certain it was a woman;Stieg Larsson -- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- And how confident are you in your ability to discern what indeed is good for you, or what is evil?William P. Young -- The Shack
- Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom...J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- ...after a while, Kate discerned a pattern in their arrivals and departures.Robert Cormier -- After the First Death
- It was an old model Ford, long and wide, a dark color I couldn't discern in the moon light.Khaled Hosseini -- The Kite Runner
- Atticus kept us in fits that evening, gravely reading columns of print about a man who sat on a flagpole for no discernible reason, which was reason enough for Jem to spend the following Saturday aloft in the treehouse.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
- He looked stealthily at his companions, feeling sure that they must discern in his face evidences of this pursuit.Stephen Crane -- The Red Badge of Courage
- as I discern, It burneth in the Capels' monument.William Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet
- he could but dimly discern the others who were brought thereCharles Dickens -- A Tale of Two Cities
- Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.Henry David Thoreau -- Walden
- There was, discernible in the letter, a slight anti-foreign biasAgatha Christie -- The ABC Murders
- He sniffed again but could not make it out; there was a cat odor in the rug, he realized, past which it was impossible to discern anything.Gish Jen -- Typical American
- Disguised he came; but those his children dear
Their parent soon discerned, though in disguise.John Milton -- Paradise Lost - Hatsue studied the photograph for a long time, particularly Kabuo's eyes and mouth, to see what she might discern there.David Guterson -- Snow Falling on Cedars
- Its wandering and wild glances fell at this moment upon the head of the bed, over which the face of its master, rigid with horror, was just discernible.Edgar Allan Poe -- The Murders in the Rue Morgue
- She had not wanted their family to become collateral damage in a war that had no discernible fronts, no real shape, and no rules.Dave Eggers -- Zeitoun
discern = notice or see (something that is not obvious)
discerns = understands
discerns = notices or understands (something that is not obvious)
discern = see (with difficulty)
discern = notice or understand (something that is not obvious)
discern = make out (see or notice something not easy to see)
discerned = to notice something that is not obvious
discern = distinguish (to notice or understand something that is not obvious)
discernible = understandable
discern = notice
discern = to see something that is not obvious
discern = see
discern = understand (something that is not obvious)
discernible = possible to notice or understand
discern = to notice
discerned = noticed something that is not obvious
discern = notice or understand (that is not obvious)
discernible = possible to see
discernible = possible to identify or understand