Meaning & use
determination
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Meanings
noununcountableapproving
Firmness of purpose; the quality of continuing toward a goal despite difficulty or delay.
Grammar: No plural for the quality; use determination to do or with determination, not a determinations for resolve.
Patterns
- determination to succeed
- sheer determination
- show determination
Her determination to finish carried the whole team through overtime.
It took quiet determination to learn the script while working nights.
nouncountableformallegal
An official decision or judgment reached after investigation, discussion, or legal consideration.
Grammar: Takes an or the; often followed by of, on, or as to: a determination of liability.
Patterns
- final determination
- determination of cause
- reach a determination
The inquiry issued its determination of the accident’s cause.
The court awaited a determination on custody.
Common combinations
- sheer determination
- She finished the marathon through sheer determination.
- determination to do
- His determination to apologize first surprised everyone.
- lack determination
- The plan failed because managers lacked determination.
- legal determination
- The legal determination took months of evidence review.
- determination of cause
- The report delayed determination of cause until tests ended.
Synonyms and how they differ
- resolve
- Resolve is firm commitment to act, often after a decision; determination stresses continued effort despite obstacles.
- persistence
- Persistence is keeping on repeatedly; determination is the inner firmness behind persistence.
- willpower
- Willpower is control over impulses to do hard things; determination is goal-focused resolve.
- verdict
- Verdict is a legal or judging decision only; it is not the quality of resolve.
Opposites
Word family
- determine verb
- To decide firmly, discover exactly, or control an outcome.
- determined adjective
- Firmly decided or resolute.
- determinable adjective
- Able to be found out, decided, or settled.
- indeterminate adjective
- Not fixed, not exact, or not clearly decided.
Commonly confused: determination or decision?
determination vs decision
A decision is a choice made at a point in time; determination is sustained resolve, or in legal use a formal finding after inquiry.
Practice
Her ___ to finish the project kept the group working after the lab closed.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs the noun meaning firm resolve, so determination is correct. Determinism is a philosophy idea, determiner is a grammar word, and detergent cleans.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “determination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.