How to Use discern in a Sentence

discern

verb

• The reasons behind this sudden change are difficult to discern.
• Despite the layers of ironic hesitation, the reader soon discerns that the emotions informing the book are raw and, more importantly, authentic.
  — Publishers Weekly, 13 Dec. 1999
• The sources of the Gulf states’ anger are not hard to discern.
  — Jordan Michael Smith, The New Republic, 11 Mar. 2022
• The costs of the delays were not hard to discern, though.
  — Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 19 July 2022
• Even toes can be discerned in a few of the sauropod prints.
  — Kathleen McLaughlin, Science | AAAS, 21 June 2017
• But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to discern where the shrapnel lands.
  — New York Times, 3 May 2022
• In its surface, the chief discerned the face of the Prophet Muhammad.
  — Michael Lapointe, The Atlantic, 11 May 2018
• That could take months, years or even decades to discern.
  — Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, 11 Mar. 2021
• Of course, the layperson cannot always discern much from the soil.
  — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 20 Feb. 2023
• His legacy, and that of the Post Pub, are harder to discern.
  — Tim Carman, Washington Post, 3 July 2020
• With the help of a rod, Manqui can discern what the earth beneath her holds.
  — Longreads, 8 Apr. 2021
• Our job is trying to discern what is a true threat and what isn’t.
  — oregonlive, 14 Jan. 2021
• What was the process of discerning what made the most sense to tell your story?
  — Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 17 Sep. 2024
• But there's no way to discern when any of them were posted.
  — Wired, 3 Oct. 2019
• Throughout the film, Neo learns to discern what’s real and what’s not.
  — Manuel Betancourt, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2024
• His first few starts in High-A Aberdeen make that hard to discern.
  — Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2024
• Close up, the markings on the hillside were hard to discern, and even harder to make sense of.
  — Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 12 May 2021
• That's going to be sort of easy to discern after all this is over.
  — NBC News, 12 June 2022
• The roots of anti-science slant of Trump and others on the far right isn’t hard to discern.
  — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2024
• Too grainy to discern the marks or even say for sure the photos were of Jennifer.
  — Megan O’Matz, ProPublica, 16 Sep. 2021
• It’s too early to discern a trend in how the courts are viewing the merits of these claims.
  — oregonlive, 23 Mar. 2021
• The contours of this change are still a bit difficult to discern.
  — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2020
• More than half of the 28 pictures are in color, but that’s not always easy to discern.
  — Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2023
• The reason for a recent spike in theft at grocery stores is not hard to discern.
  — Ann Larson, The New Republic, 5 Mar. 2021
• The ability to discern this is a key attribute of a leader.
  — Bill Edwards, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021
• The initial point of contact was hard to discern, even on replay.
  — CBS News, 2 May 2018
• The driving purpose of these images is not hard to discern.
  — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2022
• By the end of the play, divine providence is much harder to discern.
  — The Economist, 12 July 2018
• Harder to discern is how much the Longhorns’ rout of Oklahoma revealed about the strength of Texas as a national-title contender.
  — Andrew Greif, NBC News, 13 Oct. 2024
• Be mindful of your ego and discerning if something feels toxic, or competitive in a way that isn’t healthy.
  — Valerie Mesa, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 16 Nov 2024