1
as in shade
partial darkness due to the obstruction of light rays
the valley was in shadow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in black
shadows plural
a time or place of little or no light
lurking in the shadows
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in trace
a tiny often physical indication of something lost or vanished
a run-down mansion that is only a shadow of its former glory
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in glimmer
a very small amount
not even a shadow of a doubt about the defendant's guilt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in apparition
the soul of a dead person thought of especially as appearing to living people
rumors of a shadow haunting the castle
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in to chase
to go after or on the track of
shadowing the suspect to see what he was up to
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to obscure
to make dark, dim, or indistinct
thickening clouds shadowed the countryside
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 shadow
Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
What looked like a shadow at first turned out to be the dog, skittish and exhausted from wandering.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 14 Oct. 2025
Riley Moss does his job opposite Pat Surtain, shadowing Arian Smith on third-down incompletion.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shadow
Noun
Even giraffes can hide in the shadows The sun began to set behind the stands along the third-base line of Dodger Stadium in the second inning Thursday.
—Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
What looked like a shadow at first turned out to be the dog, skittish and exhausted from wandering.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 17 Oct. 2025
Verb
Christian Gonzalez, curiously, did not shadow Olave, whom New Orleans often pitted against Jones in the slot.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 14 Oct. 2025
Riley Moss does his job opposite Pat Surtain, shadowing Arian Smith on third-down incompletion.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shadow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shadow
Noun
-
Director Liza Mandelup’s documentary Caterpillar explores the dangerous extremes some people are willing to go to in the quest to – as the Crystal Gayle song put it – make their brown eyes blue (or green or some other shade).—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Collaborating on their first feature after working on high-profile Gallic animation projects like The Little Prince, The Illusionist and I Lost My Body, Vallade and Han favor an explosive color palette without any lines separating one shade from another.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Beyond Blues introduces non-indigo dye options and versatile customization possibilities, while Airsoft features a fresh palette of luminous mid and light indigo tones, complemented by soft greys and blacks—perfect for spring-summer moods and relaxed silhouettes.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The floor-length gown featured a plunging v-neck that didn't leave much to the imagination, as well as a thigh-high slit that gave the musician the chance to show off her legs — and her strappy black Giuseppe Zanotti heels.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Even trace concentrations can affect algae and fish, creating ripple effects across ecosystems.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Oct. 2025
-
His warning comes just days after Beijing unveiled sweeping new export controls that would require companies worldwide to seek Chinese approval before shipping thousands of products containing even trace amounts of rare earths.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Within both design and fashion, the Middle East is one of those buoyant markets providing a glimmer of hope amid a difficult economy worldwide.—
Sofia Celeste,
Footwear News,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Today’s flight offers a glimmer of hope that a V3 booster catch could be on the horizon.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These days, Maurice is said to appear as an apparition on the 14th floor.—
Nicole Kliest,
Vogue,
18 Oct. 2025
-
In Good Boy, Indy investigates strange noises and ghostly apparitions in the remote country house.—
Laura Martin,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing arm of the retailing giant, experienced a massive outage in the wee hours of Monday that knocked out what felt like everything.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
-
By deploying solvers on scalable cloud platforms, firms avoid the need for expensive local hardware, lowering barriers for CAE adoption among businesses.—
Ni Tao,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Cavazos says this work — chasing leads or even, at times, following ICE agents — to alert the community can be hard, especially now that the Department of Homeland Security regularly accuses groups like Cavazos' of interfering with their jobs and endangering the lives of immigration officers.—
Marisa Peñaloza,
NPR,
17 Oct. 2025
-
In private debt, incentive misalignment can arise if managers prioritize asset growth at all costs, which sometimes leads to chasing thinner spreads or riskier deals.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The department, run by State Superintendent Jill Underly, relies on a rudimentary system to track its investigations, obscuring the scale of misconduct for policymakers and the public.—
Danielle DuClos,
jsonline.com,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Instead, two wannabe criminals, with their faces obscured by pantyhose, simply walk into the local art museum and rip the paintings right off the walls.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
17 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shadow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shadow. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share