as in distinguishing
to understand or point out the difference in
it was hard at first to differentiate between the two styles of music
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Recent Examples of differentiating
That is a differentiating point.
—
K.h. Koehler, USA Today, 18 May 2026
Their ontology layer may be the most differentiating feature of this solution.
—Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
While the uses and gratifications model is basically an individual (or user)-centered model, MSD theory, first developed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur in 1976, goes further in differentiating the microlevels of interaction in relation to audiences and social groups.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
The biggest differentiating factor was the use of an agent harness, a piece of code that wraps around an LLM to guide it through a series of specific tasks.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 7 May 2026
On a related note, leaders need to be better at differentiating between truly high-quality thinking, and something copied directly from AI that will make people roll their eyes.
—David Rock, Fortune, 6 May 2026
The effort went a long way to differentiating the retailer from Walmart and the now-defunct Sears and Kmart as well as department stores, dollar stores and offpricers.
—David Moin, Footwear News, 6 May 2026
Even other celebrities have trouble differentiating the pair.
—Laura Lane, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
The Mexican eatery splits its menu into three, differentiating between meat dishes, vegetarian items and vegan dishes to avoid any potential confusion.
—Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 22 Apr. 2026
K.h. Koehler, USA Today, 18 May 2026
Their ontology layer may be the most differentiating feature of this solution.
—Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
While the uses and gratifications model is basically an individual (or user)-centered model, MSD theory, first developed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur in 1976, goes further in differentiating the microlevels of interaction in relation to audiences and social groups.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
The biggest differentiating factor was the use of an agent harness, a piece of code that wraps around an LLM to guide it through a series of specific tasks.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 7 May 2026
On a related note, leaders need to be better at differentiating between truly high-quality thinking, and something copied directly from AI that will make people roll their eyes.
—David Rock, Fortune, 6 May 2026
The effort went a long way to differentiating the retailer from Walmart and the now-defunct Sears and Kmart as well as department stores, dollar stores and offpricers.
—David Moin, Footwear News, 6 May 2026
Even other celebrities have trouble differentiating the pair.
—Laura Lane, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
The Mexican eatery splits its menu into three, differentiating between meat dishes, vegetarian items and vegan dishes to avoid any potential confusion.
—Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 22 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for differentiating
Verb
-
The group blamed both the army and RSF and said some drones use visual monitoring technology capable of distinguishing targets, raising concerns that the attacks may not have been indiscriminate.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 May 2026
-
Even Realities has launched its Even G2 smart glasses, distinguishing themselves from competitors like Meta by being deliberately camera- and speaker-free.—
David Phelan,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
The Justice Department said in the letter that Yale violated the law by intentionally discriminating based on race in its admissions.—
Ken Alltucker,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
-
The Justice Department on Thursday accused Yale School of Medicine of discriminating based on race in its admissions, by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants over White and Asian ones.—
Susan Svrluga,
Washington Post,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Differentiating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/differentiating. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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