as in ordered
to request the doing of by virtue of one's authority
dictated that the terms of surrender be negotiated by his senior staff
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Recent Examples of dictated
Experience with other medical devices like hip implants and pacemakers dictated that plaintiffs who had a faulty product surgically removed had more valuable lawsuits than those with the product still in place.
—
Literary Hub, 12 Jan. 2026
Public decisions were dictated in advance by prescriptive rules, or had to be proved in public processes to be objectively correct.
—Philip K. Howard, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026
An average day at Lady Elliot has a tempo, with the details dictated by the tides.
—Susan Casey, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026
Fernández had seen enough, burning an early timeout as the Clippers dictated everything on both ends and James Harden settled in almost instantly.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 10 Jan. 2026
Buffalo’s injuries have dictated its season.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
The game dictated the stats, not the other way around.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 Jan. 2026
In a statement published to X by his office's official account, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated that the Gaza ceasefire deal dictated Hamas' return of all remaining hostages.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2025
The script came together in a matter of weeks, dictated heavily by the production realities of the project.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictated
Verb
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Questions about education funding Amid the state’s revenue shortfall, Little in August ordered state agencies other than public schools to cut spending by 3%.—
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Cashier Sandra Cornejo said the suspect ordered Oreo ice cream before pulling out a knife and demanding money.—
Verb
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Despite that, in July, Molina Cervantes requested dismissal of the restraining order against him, according to court records.—
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To cover the gap, the board requested another fee of more than $3,700 per member and raised monthly dues by $75 for a two-year period.—
Verb
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He was asked to be the signal-caller, and that responsibility seemed to hinder his ability to read and react.—
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At just 18 months old, he was cast as baby Toby in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, after the filmmaker asked the Frouds, who were already working on the film, if their infant could step into the role.—
Cite this Entry
“Dictated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictated. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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