SERVE Synonyms: 80 Similar and Opposite Words

serve

verb

ˈsərv

Definition of serve

as in to attend

to be a servant for he served his master faithfully for 20 years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in to suffice

to be enough they made the pasta serve for eight guests

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in to do

to be fitting or proper those old riding boots will serve for now, but you'll need newer ones for the horse show

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in to treat

to behave toward in a stated way my parents served me well in preparing me for life

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in to act

to have a certain purpose the harsh punishment served to teach everyone a lesson

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in to benefit

to provide with something useful or desirable an excellent college that served her with the skills necessary to make it in today's job market

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 serve The gathering centered around a street vendor making elote to order and serving fresh, hot cocoa-like champurrado. — Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026 Other airlines that serve the Sacramento airport also offer flights to Oahu, but with stopovers, according to those airline websites and FlightAware. — Sacbee.com, 28 Oct. 2026 Unfortunately, his dog-and-phony show served a grimmer purpose. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026 Bolsonaro, 45, was served with the order to surrender his passports Monday, a day after his election loss. — Matthew Lee, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for serve

Recent Examples of Synonyms for serve

Verb

Stevens endorsed Rogers after attending a Detroit church service with him.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
Stevens instead opted to attend a different church service with Rogers, where the pair hosted a press conference.

— Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of attend

Verb

So suffice it to say Shultz went into the new Holmes documentary with some baggage.

— Amanda Erickson, STAT, 20 Oct. 2026
In Season Two, the couple dealt with making the relationship work, which culminates in tensions between the pair — and without totally spoiling it, suffice to say that does not end so well.

— Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of suffice

Verb

The family-friendly festivities include trick-or-treating bags for the first 250 children younger than 12 in the vendor and tattoo rooms on Saturday, plus a kids’ costume contest where every participating child wins and specialty drinks.

— Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
Bass, who was married to a Chicano and treats her ex-husband’s children as her own, isn’t fluent but has a robust Spanish-language outreach for her campaign, complete with ads, mailers and websites.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of treat

Verb

So Concordia researchers developed this novel material that can act as both.

— Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2026
As the church falls apart, its demolition imminent, the work acts as an acknowledgment of the life that exists within materials, of how intention and attention can come together to bring out the sense of meaning inherent to a place.

— Kristian Vistrup Madsen, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of act

Verb

Now Republicans are the ones who bend the maps to benefit their party.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
Coupled with job-displacement fears from AI, opponents now point to the facilities as a physical symbol of who benefits from the boom and who gets stuck with the bill.

— Luke Fountain, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of benefit

Verb

Engineers must fit every component within that envelope, limiting the size of equipment such as antennas and power systems.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Riel Karmy-Jones, the prosecution barrister, accused Brand of retrofitting his definitions to fit his evidence.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of fit

Verb

From there, congressional leadership would have to decide how to handle the impasse, with three cases over the last five decades to draw on as precedent.

— David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2026
AgiBot says the model can also handle dexterous manipulation without requiring additional fine-tuning for every new activity.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of handle

Browse Nearby Words

servants

serve

served

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Serve.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serve. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of serve

verb

Example Sentences

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