designate
Point out formally
Designate functions as both verb and adjective.
To designate something is to mark it out, name it, or assign it to a particular purpose or role: The area was designated as a wildlife preserve.
They designated her as team leader.
As an adjective, designate follows a title to indicate someone who has been chosen for a position but has not yet officially assumed it: the ambassador designate, president-designate.
The word emphasizes official selection or formal assignment rather than casual choice.
Payment for services rendered
- authorizeGrant formal permission
- empowerGrant authority or confidence
- delegateEntrust authority to another
- selectCarefully pick from options
nominate · assign · install · inaugurate · invest · ordain · elect · accredit
Designate for specific use
- allotDistribute by shares
- distributeDivide and deliver
- delegateEntrust authority to another
- entrustCommit to another's care
transfer · relegate · charge · vest · mandate · instruct · earmark · reserve
Signal or point to
- identifyEstablish who or what
- defineState precise meaning
- stipulateRequire as condition
- delineateDescribe with precision
prescribe · pinpoint · mark · denote · state · establish · determine · set
Contact by phone
- titleFormal honorific or name
- termFixed period or word
- labelIdentifying attachment or marker
- dubAdd replacement audio
style · tag · brand · nickname · christen · baptize · entitle · characterize
commission
Payment for services rendered
- authorizeGrant formal permission
- empowerGrant authority or confidence
- delegateEntrust authority to another
select · nominate · assign · install · inaugurate · invest · ordain · elect · accredit · confirm
allocate
Designate for specific use
- allotDistribute by shares
- distributeDivide and deliver
- delegateEntrust authority to another
entrust · transfer · relegate · charge · vest · mandate · instruct · earmark · reserve · apportion
indicate
Signal or point to
delineate · prescribe · pinpoint · mark · denote · state · establish · determine · set · fix
call
Contact by phone
dub · style · tag · brand · nickname · christen · baptize · entitle · characterize · identify
ambassador
Official foreign representative
- delegateEntrust authority to another
- representativeOne who acts for another
- deputyAuthorized substitute or assistant
appointee · nominee · envoy · emissary · commissioner · liaison · proxy · agent · designee · successor
- successorsheir apparent, heir presumptive, next in line, crown prince, crown princess
- formal verbsrequest, inquire, require, submit, proceed
- royal successionthrone, succession, line of succession, order of succession, succession line
- successionheir apparent, heir presumptive, line of succession, primogeniture, successor
- building verbsbuild, construct, erect, demolish, renovate
- clarifyexplain, clarify, elucidate, elaborate, spell out
designategeneralize
Make broadly applicable
misname · miscall · misrepresent · mislabel · obscure
- designated driverAbstaining volunteer behind wheel
- designated areaSpace assigned for purpose
- designated hittersNon-fielding offensive specialists
- landmark designationOfficial historic site status
- designated survivorsLeaders kept apart for continuity
designation, designated, designating, designates, undesignated, redesignate, designator