Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To state or order something with authority, expecting it to be obeyed: To issue a command, rule, or instruction that must be followed.
   • To say or read something aloud so that it can be written down or recorded: To speak words for someone else to transcribe.

2. Noun:

   • An authoritative order or command: A rule or principle that must be followed.
   • A guiding principle or impulse: An influence or force that controls or directs actions.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • The general will dictate the terms of surrender. (He will authoritatively state the conditions.)
  • She dictated a letter to her assistant. (She spoke the letter aloud for her assistant to write.)
  • Circumstances often dictate our choices. (External factors authoritatively determine our decisions.)

• Noun:

  • He followed the dictates of his conscience. (He obeyed the guiding principles from his conscience.)
  • The company's policy is dictated by financial considerations. (The policy is authoritatively determined by financial factors.)

Advanced Usage

• "to dictate to someone": To give orders to someone in an overbearing way.
  • He refuses to be dictated to by anyone. (He refuses to accept authoritative commands from others.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dictation (n): The act of speaking words for someone to write down, or the text that is written.
  • The secretary took dictation.
• Dictator (n): A ruler with total power, especially one who has obtained it by force.
• Dictatorial (adj): Characteristic of a dictator; tyrannical or overbearing.

Synonyms

• Verb: Command, order, decree, prescribe, direct.
• Noun: Command, decree, edict, mandate, principle.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Dictate against: To make a particular action or outcome impossible or inadvisable.
  • The evidence dictates against that conclusion. (The evidence authoritatively opposes that conclusion.)

Related Idioms

• "The dictates of fashion/reason/common sense": The powerful influences or requirements of fashion, reason, or common sense.
  • She ignored the dictates of fashion and wore what she liked.

Noun

1. a guiding principle
   • the dictates of reason
2. an authoritative rule

Verb

1. rule as a dictator
2. say out loud for the purpose of recording
   • He dictated a report to his secretary
3. issue commands or orders for