cultivate

verb

ˈkəl-tə-ˌvāt How to pronounce cultivate (audio)
Definition of cultivatenext
1
as in to develop
to come to have gradually cultivated a taste for opera in order to fit in with his new circle of friends

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to promote
to help the growth or development of cultivated a passion for learning among his students over the years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to grow
to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care in an attempt to produce New World counterparts of the wines that he had enjoyed in Europe, Jefferson cultivated several varieties of grapes at Monticello

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to harvest
to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on we ought to cultivate the field out back

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cultivate From the C-suite to the front lines of the labor market, resilience is a mindset that must be deliberately cultivated in organizations and individuals alike. — Philip Weinberg, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026 To sit amid the magic of the ivy and feel the buzz of the historic stadium, cultivating in young suburban minds the magic of a ballgame in Chicago? — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026 For some of the wealthiest families in the United States, their vast fortunes have been cultivated over decades as their businesses are passed from one generation to the next. — Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2026 The practice of yama includes avoiding violence, dishonesty, theft and greed, and cultivating brahmacharya. — Bhakti Mamtora, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cultivate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cultivate
  1. develop
  2. promote
  3. grow
  4. harvest
  5. acquire
  6. encourage
  7. produce
  8. tend
Verb
  • In keeping with the concept, this Lee gets more of his own arc, driven by his own decisions and developed enough to rival his employers for the center of the show.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Adolescents with severe obesity are up to nine times more likely to develop chronic kidney disease in young adulthood, even without diabetes or hypertension.
    — Babak J. Orandi, STAT, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of develop
Verb
  • Inspired by his legacy, cofounders George and Amal Clooney created the Albies to ensure that the people doing the hardest work to promote justice — often far from the spotlight — are seen, heard and protected.
    — Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Around two dozen states have enacted some version of the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, which has been heavily promoted at the state and federal level by the AKA.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of promote
Verb
  • Yet the diverging political and regulatory attention paid to the two industries makes increasingly little sense, given the bond market’s growing primacy in the financial system, and its ability to also cause mayhem.
    — Robin Wigglesworth, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Known for its expanding flosses, the company has been on a growth streak of late, growing its business 183 percent in three years and expanding its presence in key retailers like Target and Walmart.
    — Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of grow
Verb
  • The spacecraft can harvest energy, locate another spacecraft, and maintain a tracking link.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Even if a bill eventually passes, even if diesel comes down later this year, that won’t help the farmers harvesting crops right now.
    — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of harvest
Verb
  • Prosecutors accused the two men of planning and acquiring the elements to make a chlorine bomb as well as using the internet to identify and research potential targets.
    — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
  • To thread the needle, private capital is buying into production companies, acquiring the infrastructure and diving deeper into the financing structure of entertainment.
    — Laya Neelakandan, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of acquire
Verb
  • Partnership is the guiding motif of the World Soundtrack Awards’ Film Music Days, where live performances will give cult films bold new scores and industry mixers encourage emerging composers and filmmakers to find their creative match.
    — Ben Croll, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The breakthrough came after Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraged Figure to melt the robots.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of encourage
Verb
  • The company’s new v3 satellites, which are produced at a SpaceX facility in Redmond, Washington, are equipped with solar arrays that generate twice as much power as prior generations.
    — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Suppressing this same pathway produced the opposite result, limiting the ability to switch behavior, driving longer bouts of the repetitive behavior, as per the release.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of produce
Verb
  • Archaeologists have tended to look at the paintings in these burial chambers as two-dimensional images to analyze.
    — Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Advertisement In many circles, the first mention of climate policy in the EU tends to be a discussion about backtracking.
    — Justin Worland, Time, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of tend

Browse Nearby Words

cultists
cultivate
cultivated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cultivate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cultivate. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of perseverate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All