Meaning & use
dictating
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“dictating” is a form of “dictate”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Speaking words aloud so that another person writes them down or a device records them.
Grammar: Can take an object or stand alone: dictating a letter, or just dictating.
Patterns
- dictating something to someone
- dictating into something
The manager was dictating a letter to her assistant.
I like dictating notes into my phone while I walk.
He spent the afternoon dictating his memoirs to a young writer.
verbtransitive
Controlling a situation by stating what must be done, often in a forceful way.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a clause: dictating the terms, or dictating what we do.
Patterns
- dictating terms to someone
- dictating what someone does
The larger company was dictating the terms of the deal.
You can't keep dictating how we spend our weekends.
Weather is dictating the schedule for the whole festival.
Common combinations
- dictating a letter
- She is dictating a letter to her secretary.
- dictating terms
- The lender was dictating terms we could not accept.
- dictating notes
- The doctor was dictating notes after each patient.
- dictating the pace
- The slowest runner was dictating the pace of the group.
- dictating to someone
- Stop dictating to me about how to cook.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ordering
- Ordering is about giving commands to specific people, while dictating can also mean setting terms or conditions.
- imposing
- Imposing stresses forcing something on others and is not related to speaking aloud.
- determining
- Determining is neutral and has no suggestion of bossiness, unlike dictating.
- transcribing
- Transcribing is the writing down, whereas dictating is the speaking.
Opposites
Word family
- dictate verb
- to speak for writing down or to give orders
- dictation noun
- words spoken aloud to be written down
- dictator noun
- a ruler with total power
- dictatorial adjective
- bossy and controlling
Commonly confused: dictating or predicting? dictating or indicting?
dictating vs predicting
Predicting means saying what will happen, while dictating is saying what must be done or said.
dictating vs indicting
Indicting means formally accusing of a crime and is pronounced /ɪnˈdaɪt/.
Practice
He was ____ the terms of the agreement, and nobody was allowed to negotiate.
Choose one answer.
Dictating terms means imposing them, which matches the lack of negotiation. Suggesting and requesting would allow discussion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dictating”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.