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Synonym Chooser

How is the word assert distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of assert are affirm, avow, declare, and protest. While all these words mean "to state positively usually in anticipation of denial or objection," assert implies stating confidently without need for proof or regard for evidence.

asserted that modern music is just noise

When could affirm be used to replace assert?

The words affirm and assert can be used in similar contexts, but affirm implies conviction based on evidence, experience, or faith.

affirmed the existence of an afterlife

When might avow be a better fit than assert?

The synonyms avow and assert are sometimes interchangeable, but avow stresses frank declaration and acknowledgment of personal responsibility for what is declared.

avowed that all investors would be repaid in full

In what contexts can declare take the place of assert?

While in some cases nearly identical to assert, declare stresses open or public statement.

declared her support for the candidate

When is it sensible to use protest instead of assert?

While the synonyms protest and assert are close in meaning, protest emphasizes affirming in the face of denial or doubt.

protested that he really had been misquoted

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 assert One of the tiresome aspects of this new-world college football era is fans of opposing schools asserting that players bypassed their school only because of an NIL payout from another school. Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 14 May 2025 Consistent with the five-page limit imposed by Wilken, the group asserts that the settlement isn’t fair, reasonable or adequate to members of the settlement classes and should be rejected. Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 May 2025 Kennedy asserted that his goal at HHS is to focus on the chronic disease epidemic and deliver effective services for those who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and other services by cutting costs to taxpayers. Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 14 May 2025 Similarly, Trump's trade tariffs, territorial claims, and aggressive rhetoric towards nations like Mexico and Canada aim to project strength and assert dominance, even at the cost of disrupting traditional relations. Frank Lavin, Forbes.com, 4 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for assert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for assert
Verb
  • Related article Kurdish separatist leader calls on followers to disarm, potentially ending a five-decade insurgency with Turkey In March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire after Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group.
    Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 12 May 2025
  • In Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) declared Ozone Action Days for the San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Galveston, Dallas, and Fort Worth areas.
    Joe Edwards, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025
Verb
  • Ramaphosa and other defenders of the Expropriation Act have argued that the policies are needed to reverse the nation’s apartheid-era legacy of disparities in land ownership.
    Joey Garrison, USA Today, 11 May 2025
  • The Justice Department had argued that the case should proceed in Louisiana, as that is where Ozturk was confined.
    Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 10 May 2025
Verb
  • Sauer insisted that national injunctions were not the right mechanism for challenging Presidential orders like the one at issue in the case.
    Nik Popli, Time, 15 May 2025
  • During construction, Wright insisted that his design would perform, but on-site builders were less convinced and added more structural steel to the concrete slabs without the architect’s knowledge.
    Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest, 15 May 2025
Verb
  • But all eyes are likely to be on A$AP Rocky, who’s done some scattered acting before, but who appears in his biggest role to date as Yung Felon, a part whose place in the story has yet to be revealed, but that’s been affirmed by Lee to be a major one.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 13 May 2025
  • The new pope’s brother had to resolve an online dispute by affirming Leo is a fan of the South Side’s Chicago White Sox and not the North Side’s Cubs.
    Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández, The Conversation, 9 May 2025
Verb
  • Trump, Zelenskyy meet privately ahead of pope's funeral At the time, Zelenskyy contended the Russian president needed stronger pushback from Ukraine's allies.
    Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Another theory contends that different features in nature, such as the pattern of leaf shadows moving on the forest floor under the sunlight, provide stimuli that is interesting but not overly demanding for humans.
    Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • But McLaughlin claimed that a Dallas Police detective inadvertently attached the wrong photo to the entry.
    Rick Jervis, USA Today, 18 May 2025
  • Wars claim the lives of innocent children as well as warriors.
    Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 17 May 2025
Verb
  • Additionally, all 2025 mayoral candidates, former police commissioners, district attorneys, and public officials must proclaim that NYC should not obey the egregious orders.
    Arnold Kriss, New York Daily News, 15 May 2025
  • Notably, an anonymous poll of his NBA peers by Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic proclaimed the 6-foot-5 Iowa State product to be the league's most overrated player.
    Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 May 2025
Verb
  • Rogers was later convicted of Cribbs' and Gallagher's murders but prosecutors didn't pursue him in Louisiana or Mississippi, reasoning at the time that he was being tried in the death penalty state of Florida and that justice was being served.
    Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 15 May 2025
  • Had this law been in effect at the time, St. Louis could have asked, reasoned and acted — potentially saving Turner’s life.
    Mike Fox, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Assert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assert. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

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