Word family noun perception perceptiveness adjective perceptible ≠ imperceptible perceptive verb perceive adverb perceptibly ≠ imperceptibly perceptively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishperceiveper‧ceive /pəˈsiːv $ pər-/ ●●○ W3 AWL verb [transitive] 1 UNDERSTAND written to understand or think of something or someone in a particular way → perceptionperceive something/somebody as something Even as a young woman she had been perceived as a future chief executive.perceive something/somebody to be something Often what is perceived to be aggression is simply fear. Children who do badly in school tests often perceive themselves to be failures.2 NOTICE formal to notice, see, or recognize something → perceptive That morning, he perceived a change in Franca’s mood. Cats are not able to perceive colour.perceive that He perceived that there was no other way out of the crisis.► see thesaurus at noticeGRAMMAR: Using the progressivePerceive is not used in the progressive. You say: I perceive a slight difference. ✗Don’t say: I am perceiving a slight difference.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
perceive• The human eye is capable of perceiving thousands of insignificant details.• But the reverse is true when an attorney represents a person who is obviously guilty or whose guilt is widely perceived.• Emma had perceived a certain bitterness in his tone.• Is it sufficient that he perceives a suspicion of bias, or must he perceive the higher hurdle of likelihood?• Although Jane thought her father seemed anxious and uneasy, Susan did not perceive any change in his looks or ways.• However, Labour's urban policy can not be perceived as anything other than meagre.• The commercial photograph is therefore not perceived as primarily documenting real life.• So the primafacie plausible assumption that any creature able to perceive convexity would also be aware of connectedness is false.• Some preventive strategies and vaccines are not used because of a perceived lack of cost-effectiveness.• Empirical research indicates that young people perceive non-drinkers lacking in these qualities.• If they perceive that a military challenge threatens their country's interests, they will not hesitate to fight.• The prime minister will only resign if he perceives there is no other way out of the crisis.• However, the role of facilitator can only be successful if others perceive training as important.perceive something/somebody to be something• The acceptability of legal institutions in the financial marketplace usually depends upon how fair and certain their users perceive them to be.• In both groups one quarter perceived it to be caused by a medical condition, particularly more older male sufferers.• The most favourable attitudes were found amongst those subordinates who perceived their boss to be exercising the consultative style.• For example, if I perceive you to be friendly, then I am likely to act in a friendly manner towards you.• Diem perceived Bao Dai to be his path to power.• The nation perceived itself to be in danger.• People perceived me to be interested only in my own patch, my turf, my people.• Because the authors perceive oral communication to be of great significance in business, they further recommend that: 7.perceive that• Merrill said voters now perceive that Forbes has flip-flopped on issues such as the balanced budget amendment.• Giap also perceived that his artillery was vulnerable to air raids.• Many students perceive that on-the-job training is more important than college.• Perhaps young people perceive that our current values of the pursuit of wealth and power are hollow and react accordingly.• Whereas by looking at these exceptions we are able to perceive that the pattern itself is complex and produced by multiple factors.• The government had long since perceived that the way west depended on the transcontinental railroad.• Some perceived that these inequalities were global and particularly afflicted the Third World.• I stood in a white wilderness, and perceived that to gather wood for burning in such conditions was not easy.Origin perceive (1200-1300) Old French perceivre, from Latin percipere 