resolution
Americannoun
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a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.
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the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.
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a resolve; a decision or determination.
to make a firm resolution to do something.
Her resolution to clear her parents' name allowed her no other focus in life.
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the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.
She showed her resolution by not attending the meeting.
- Synonyms:
- fortitude, strength, tenacity, perseverance, determination, resolve
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the act or process of resolving or separating something into constituent or elementary parts.
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the resulting state.
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Optics. the act, process, or capability of distinguishing between two separate but adjacent objects or sources of light or between two nearly equal wavelengths.
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a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy, etc.
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Music.
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the progression of a voice part or of the harmony as a whole from a dissonance to a consonance.
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the tone or chord to which a dissonance is resolved.
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reduction to a simpler form; conversion.
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Medicine/Medical. the reduction or disappearance of a swelling or inflammation without suppuration.
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the degree of sharpness of a computer-generated image as measured by the number of dots per linear inch in a hard-copy printout or the number of pixels across and down on a display screen.
noun
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the act or an instance of resolving
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the condition or quality of being resolute; firmness or determination
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something resolved or determined; decision
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a formal expression of opinion by a meeting, esp one agreed by a vote
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a judicial decision on some matter; verdict; judgment
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the act or process of separating something into its constituent parts or elements
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med
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return from a pathological to a normal condition
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subsidence of the symptoms of a disease, esp the disappearance of inflammation without the formation of pus
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music the process in harmony whereby a dissonant note or chord is followed by a consonant one
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the ability of a television or film image to reproduce fine detail
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physics another word for resolving power
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of resolution
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin resolūtiōn-, stem of resolūtiō “looseness, a release” equivalent to resolute + -ion
Explanation
The noun resolution has a few related meanings having to do with being firmly determined about something. If you lack determination, you'll never fulfill your New Year's resolutions. Resolution is the noun form of the verb resolve, derived from the Latin resolvere, "to loosen, undo, settle." We can still see this meaning of resolution in the sense of "an explanation" or "a solution" — when a problem, conflict, or mystery reaches its resolution, it has been "undone," so to speak. If you approach a task with resolution, you do it with determination. And if you make a resolution, you make a firm decision to do something or meet some goal.
Vocabulary lists containing resolution
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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Words for a New Year
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While the regulator's investigation found price increases largely reflected rising wholesale costs, it concluded there were "clear gaps" in the protections available for customers, such as access to alternative dispute resolution.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
“If you’re concerned about this, if you’re inclined to believe the president, demand proof, demand resolution in court at trial with the the showing of evidence,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The authors believe that additional improvements to the optical design and other parts of the system could eventually make sub-millimeter resolution possible in PLATON-type detectors with volumes larger than 1m3.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Global models, for example, lack the resolution to capture climate change's impact on severe thunderstorms, even as confidence for hurricanes is higher.
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
And then my new heart came up with a resolution.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
Community resolutions, normally used for minor offences or incidents of antisocial behaviour, aim to address the issues without more formal legal proceedings.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Acquisitions, restructurings and resolutions of multiyear tax audits can cause anomalies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
"With the festive season now behind most of us and New Year's resolutions in full swing, this research can help inform people's plans for healthy aging in 2026," she said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
The replacement tickets ended up cutting Fountain off from his refund opportunity, as per the terms of StubHub’s “FanProtect Guarantee,” which leaves decisions on resolutions to the platform’s “sole discretion.”
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
In the days that followed, the two houses, with the urgings of the governor, rushed through a series of hastily written resolutions.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.