discerning Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb detect with the senses
   recognize; spot; make out; tell apart; recognise; distinguish; pick out; discern.
   
   • The fleeing convicts were picked out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards
   • I can't make out the faces in this photograph
2. adjective having or revealing keen insight and good judgment
   
   • a discerning critic
   • a discerning reader
3. adjective satellite unobtrusively perceptive and sympathetic
   discreet.
   
   • a discerning editor
   • a discreet silence
4. adjective satellite quick to understand
   apprehensive.
   
   • a kind and apprehensive friend"- Nathaniel Hawthorne
5. adjective satellite able to make or detect effects of great subtlety; sensitive
   
   • discerning taste
   • a discerning eye for color

WordNet