as in negligence
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action
a default in the repayment of a bank loan
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Recent Examples of default
ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2025
If executive compensation still reflects old goals, people will default to familiar patterns.
—Daniel Schmeltz, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2025
For parents who think Instagram's default Teen Account settings are not strict enough, Instagram is also rolling out a Limited Content setting.
—PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for default
Noun
The researchers' findings show how recent AI models default to Western-style directness, completely missing the cultural cues that govern everyday interactions for millions of Persian speakers worldwide.
—ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2025
If executive compensation still reflects old goals, people will default to familiar patterns.
—Daniel Schmeltz, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
Police departments in Lafayette, Indiana and Fort Collins, Colorado, were intentionally turning off the transparency defaults on the AI report generators, according to an investigative news report.
—Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, The Conversation, 15 Oct. 2025
For parents who think Instagram's default Teen Account settings are not strict enough, Instagram is also rolling out a Limited Content setting.
—PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for default
Recent Examples of Synonyms for default
Noun
-
The immunity would not apply in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct by the dispatcher.—
Jessie Opoien,
jsonline.com,
15 Oct. 2025
-
The catching of a culprit—more than three decades after the fact, without forensic evidence or eyewitnesses—was heralded as an overdue reparation for police negligence and as a civil-rights milestone for Australia’s gay community.—
Eren Orbey,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Premier League football in the 2000s could be dramatic and explosive, but what the nostalgia for that era ignores is the number of dour, sterile games there were, many of them settled by a goal from a set piece.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
At some point, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
He has also been charged with following too closely, no registration and failure to exercise due care on Interstate 85 in Jackson County, about 62 miles northeast of Atlanta.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
15 Oct. 2025
-
She was charged with reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function and failure to stop at a scene of accident resulting in serious impairment or death, the prosecutor said.—
Mike Stunson,
Kansas City Star,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Any naysaying about the $130 million-$140 million risk of Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed A CinemaScore Leonardo DiCaprio movie One Battle After Another underperforming can be disregarded, as Warners was able to afford that audacious auteur swing.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Fujie also published a newsletter arguing that the encouraged phone limitation was not based on scientific evidence and disregarded the rights of children and young residents.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In the long, hot summer of 1967, uprisings broke out across more than 150 cities after years of police abuse, segregation, and neglect.—
Josiah Bates,
Time,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Jaguar stopped building the XK in 2014, and Infiniti quietly closed the coffin on the Q60 in 2022 after years of neglect.—
Will Sabel Courtney,
Robb Report,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Martin, who requested his real name be omitted from this story, knew that from early on in their time together.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Also omitted from Victoria Beckham are current rumors of a family feud.—
Scarlett Harris,
Time,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
American soybean farmers who long relied on Chinese sales are now being passed over for exports from Brazil, Argentina and elsewhere.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Pumps are working, but the storm cell that just passed over the SE Valley dropped a bunch of rain here.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Jones, again, slighted the punt coverage with a 61-yard return to the Carolina 14-yard line.—
Mike Kaye
September 28,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The former Michigan and San Diego State coach, simply put, has been slighted by the hall.—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Default.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/default. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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