Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for understanding

understanding

[ uhn-der-stan-ding ]

noun

  1. mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation:

    My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.

  2. intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind:

    a quick understanding.

  3. superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence:

    With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.

  4. knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something:

    an understanding of accounting practice.

  5. a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people:

    To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.

  6. a mutual agreement, especially of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind:

    They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.

  7. an agreement regulating joint activity or settling differences, often informal or preliminary in character:

    After hours of negotiation, no understanding on a new contract was reached.

  8. Philosophy.
    1. the power of abstract thought; logical power.
    2. Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.


adjective

  1. characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like:

    an understanding attitude.

understanding

/ ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ /

noun

  1. the ability to learn, judge, make decisions, etc; intelligence or sense
  2. personal opinion or interpretation of a subject

    my understanding of your predicament

  3. a mutual agreement or compact, esp an informal or private one
  4. an unofficial engagement to be married
  5. archaic.
    philosophy the mind, esp the faculty of reason
  6. on the understanding that
    with the condition that; providing
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people
  2. possessing judgment and intelligence
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˌunderˈstandingly, adverb
Discover More

Other Word Forms

  • under·standing·ly adverb
  • nonun·der·standing adjective noun
  • nonun·der·standing·ly adverb
  • self-under·standing noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of understanding1

First recorded before 1050; understand + -ing 1( def )
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Pope Francis has been praised for his understanding of the poor and marginalised - which made him particularly loved in Africa.

From BBC

"He was all the time blessing me and he was totally understanding our situation and he always encouraged us to be strong," Mr Anton said.

From BBC

Kennedy’s words were so averse to understanding the truth about autism that they deserve to be set forth here in some detail.

Harrison: We did a lot of research on various people’s approaches and understanding of what makes something scary, in order to determine what we wanted audiences’ experiences to be.

“Since 2023, I have been creating trading cards and trading card games with my team, so I felt I approached this project with a good understanding of the context,” Murakami said.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


understandableunderstate