What does discriminately mean?
"Discriminately" is an adverb meaning in a discriminating manner — that is, with careful judgment, discernment, and an ability to perceive fine differences. A person who chooses discriminately weighs options thoughtfully rather than accepting whatever is offered; a critic who reads discriminately notices what lesser observers overlook. The word derives from Latin discriminare, "to divide or separate," from discernere, "to sift or distinguish," a root it shares with words like "discrete" and "discretion." Although the related noun "discrimination" is now dominated by its negative sense of unjust treatment of people, "discriminately" retains chiefly its older, positive meaning of exercising taste and selective judgment, as in phrases like "choose discriminately" or "spend discriminately." Formal in tone and comparatively rare in everyday speech, it functions mainly in writing about criticism, collecting, consumption, and matters of cultivated judgment. Its antonym, "indiscriminately," describes action taken without any such distinction or care.
adverbIn a manner that shows careful discrimination or discernment; selectively, with attention to differences in quality or merit. It can also mean in a way that treats people unfairly on the basis of category, though this sense is far less common than the adjective's.
- With careful judgment and discernment; making fine distinctions, especially about quality or suitability.
- (Less common) In a manner that unfairly differentiates against people on the basis of group membership.
"A good editor reads discriminately, cutting whatever fails to serve the whole."
"She spends her reading hours discriminately, favoring depth over volume."
"The algorithm was accused of acting discriminately against certain user groups."
The same root that gives us 'crime' and 'crisis' gives us 'discriminate' — the Latin cernere meant to sift, to separate, to decide.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of discriminately
"Discriminately" comes from the verb "discriminate," which entered English in the early 17th century from Latin discriminare, meaning "to divide, separate, or distinguish." This in turn derives from discernere (dis- "apart" + cernere "to sift, perceive, decide"), the same root behind "discretion," "discrete," and "certain." The adverb formed regularly with the suffix -ly. As attitudes shifted, the noun "discrimination" acquired a dominant negative sense of prejudicial treatment by the 19th century, while the positive sense of discerning quality survived chiefly in "discriminating" and, less often, "discriminately."
Related word forms
How discriminately is actually used
Formal to neutral register; rare in casual speech. Because 'discrimination' now strongly connotes unfair treatment, some readers may momentarily misparse 'discriminately'; context almost always signals the older, positive sense of exercising taste and judgment. The adverb is much less frequent than the adjectives 'discriminating' and 'discriminatory', which have largely split the two senses between them.
Easily confused with discriminately
Indiscriminately means doing something without distinction or care — the near-opposite of discriminately.
Distinctly means clearly or unmistakably, referring to clarity of perception rather than selectivity of judgment.