Meaning & use

recognition

noun·Academic

The act of identifying someone or something from previous knowledge, or formal acknowledgment of an achievement.

See it in a sentence

A flicker of recognition crossed her face when she saw her old classmate at the reunion.

The scientist finally received international recognition for her decades of research on vaccines.

A note on using this word

Recognition can mean simply identifying something familiar, or, in a different sense, publicly crediting someone for their achievements or status.

Words with a similar meaning

acknowledgmentidentification

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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