Times Literary Supplement
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When we paraphrase, we provide a version that can exist beside the original (rather than replace it). We paraphrase all the time. When you tell a friend what someone else has said, you're almost always paraphrasing, since you're not repeating the exact words. If you go to hear a talk, you might paraphrase the speaker's main points afterward for your friends. And when writing a paper on a short story, you might start off your essay with a paraphrase of the plot. Paraphrasing is especially useful when dealing with poetry, since poetic language is often difficult and poems may have meanings that are hard to pin down.
Examples of paraphrase in a Sentence
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2025
Students can paste text and use the summarize feature to condense lengthy readings or the paraphrase feature to rephrase complex academic language into more accessible terms.
—Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 19 May 2025
To paraphrase the historian Simon Schama, if Thatcher was the stern nanny who gave Brits their medicine, Diana was the loving mother who smothered them in tactile affection.
—Air Mail, 10 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for paraphrase
Cite this Entry
“Paraphrase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paraphrase. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
paraphrase
1 of 2 noun
paraphrase
2 of 2 verb
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