1
as in informants
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the drug mule refused to turn rat without a guarantee of immunity
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in lovers
someone who regularly spends time in a particular place
on Friday night the mall rats were out in full force
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in dogs
a person whose behavior is offensive to others
no one can understand what she finds appealing in a rat like him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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show current usage.
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Recent Examples of rats
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
Other small mammals like ferrets, degus, sugar gliders, chinchillas, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rats and mice are all allowed as pets.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2026
Unfortunately, rodenticides don’t just kill rats.
—Joan Morris, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Sacramento’s smallest zoo Alali now lives in Natomas with her fiancé, Alex Saraceno, along with Merlin; a girl group of rats named Monica, Moira and Amy; a former prison pigeon named Al Capone; a bearded dragon named Muffy; and a dog named Maverick.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2026
Passengers were abandoning them, like rats scuttling off a sinking ship, and people stood on the sidewalks, looking at their phones, or looking at the city, frowning, desperate.
—Catherine Lacey, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
The city will focus first on Adams Morgan, a lively corridor full of restaurants, bars, homes and — to residents’ chagrin — many, many rats.
—Jenny Gathright, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2026
Nearby, her downstairs neighbor, Marina Quiroz, was showing a video of rats scurrying through her kitchen to a representative of the city’s tenant protection office.
—ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
Rosemary repels squirrels, deer, rats, mice, snails, slugs, and insects like mosquitoes, Mexican bean beetles, Japanese beetles, cabbage moths, and carrot flies.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 2 Apr. 2026
Noun
Plus, his teammates love to fire those rubber rats fans throw onto the ice at him after wins, so there was some incentive there, too.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026
Other small mammals like ferrets, degus, sugar gliders, chinchillas, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rats and mice are all allowed as pets.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2026
Unfortunately, rodenticides don’t just kill rats.
—Joan Morris, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
Sacramento’s smallest zoo Alali now lives in Natomas with her fiancé, Alex Saraceno, along with Merlin; a girl group of rats named Monica, Moira and Amy; a former prison pigeon named Al Capone; a bearded dragon named Muffy; and a dog named Maverick.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2026
Passengers were abandoning them, like rats scuttling off a sinking ship, and people stood on the sidewalks, looking at their phones, or looking at the city, frowning, desperate.
—Catherine Lacey, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
The city will focus first on Adams Morgan, a lively corridor full of restaurants, bars, homes and — to residents’ chagrin — many, many rats.
—Jenny Gathright, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2026
Nearby, her downstairs neighbor, Marina Quiroz, was showing a video of rats scurrying through her kitchen to a representative of the city’s tenant protection office.
—ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
Rosemary repels squirrels, deer, rats, mice, snails, slugs, and insects like mosquitoes, Mexican bean beetles, Japanese beetles, cabbage moths, and carrot flies.
—Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rats
Noun
-
For months, the couple worked with the FBI as informants, with Katas even staging a raid by arranging a meeting with Bateman under the guise of filming.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Shiwa Hassanpour, an activist with the human rights monitor Hengaw Organization, based in Iraq’s Kurdish region, said people have been shot for approaching the border, because Iranian forces suspect them of being spies or informants.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That’s probably why class-crossed lovers make such fertile ground for fiction—look at Heathcliff and Cathy, or poor Scudder and Maurice.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Admittedly, this is not the first time Martin has seen two generations of Rent lovers living under one roof.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Along with a fundraising walk, the event will include a pancake breakfast, live music, a vendor village, adoptable dogs and more.—
Point Loma-Ob Monthly,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Kinneman, who previously worked at a hemp cultivation in Oregon, knew CBD could help other dogs after first seeing improvement in his own wire-haired Weimaraner mix, Lucy.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Security services also rely on informers to tell them who might be using Starlink, and search internet and social media traffic for signs it has been used.—
David Rising,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The three-day event draws more than 100,000 fans every year for the festival, which headlines largely country music acts while raising money for marine conservation.—
Joan Murray,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Some diehard Beliebers—Justin’s fiercest fans—were already camped out near the front barricades.—
Christian Allaire,
Vogue,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
-
By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
One begins to think that the condition is hereditary—that, instead of a Habsburg jaw, the wealthy white denizens of New Orleans high society are saddled with emotional problems.—
Brandy Jensen,
New Yorker,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Skill in understanding the natural world and identifying its denizens.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Once completed, the $5 million acquisition will ensure the theater has a permanent home, a place where skateboarding clowns and leek-haired onions can continue to frolic and dance for decades to come.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Plot details are being kept under wraps, though the film has been described as a four-quadrant coming-of-age comedy set in the world of funny and evil clowns.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rats. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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