Meaning & use
dedicated
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparableapproving
Giving a great deal of your time and effort to a job, cause or person because you care about it.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a dedicated nurse, she is dedicated to her team.
Patterns
- dedicated to something
- a dedicated teacher
Our dedicated volunteers cleaned the beach every Saturday for ten years.
He is dedicated to his students and often stays late to help them.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Made or kept for one particular use only and not shared with other purposes.
Grammar: Comes before the noun: a dedicated server, not a server that is dedicated.
Patterns
- a dedicated something
The lab has a dedicated line for emergency calls.
We cleared a dedicated room for the children's art supplies.
Common combinations
- dedicated team
- A dedicated team of engineers fixed the fault overnight.
- dedicated to something
- The museum is dedicated to local history.
- dedicated follower
- She has a dedicated following online.
- dedicated server
- The game runs on a dedicated server.
- fully dedicated
- He is fully dedicated to his training.
Synonyms and how they differ
- committed
- Stresses a firm promise to a goal, while dedicated stresses the effort actually given.
- devoted
- Carries more affection, and is often used for love of a person or cause.
- diligent
- Describes careful, steady work habits rather than loyalty to a cause.
Opposites
Word family
- dedicate verb
- to give time or effort to something
- dedication noun
- strong commitment, or a message at the front of a book
- dedicatedly adverb
- in a committed way
Commonly confused: dedicated or dedicate?
dedicated vs dedicate
Dedicate is the verb; dedicated is the adjective or past tense, as in she dedicated her book to her mother.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'dedicated' in the sense of reserved for one purpose?
Choose one answer.
A phone line kept only for complaints is reserved for one use. The runner sentence is about commitment, and the other two are not natural uses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dedicated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.