1
as in lecture
a usually formal discourse delivered to an audience
the guest of honor gave a short speech in appreciation of the award
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in language
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
wanting to develop a writing system for his people, Sequoya created a system of 86 symbols representing all the syllables of Cherokee speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of speech
Virtually overnight, the article catapulted Edison to fame and established the phonograph as the first machine to record and reproduce human speech.
—
Ron Cowen, Scientific American, 3 June 2026
In his election night speech to supporters that had gathered for him at a coffee shop in Roseville, Kiley kept up his criticism of Proposition 50 – but this time with a note of triumph.
—Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
In a speech given Monday at the New York Press Club, Owens echoed Cooper’s remarks and applauded Pelley for taking a stand.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2026
At the time, Fidel Castro lauded him in a speech.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for speech
Ron Cowen, Scientific American, 3 June 2026
In his election night speech to supporters that had gathered for him at a coffee shop in Roseville, Kiley kept up his criticism of Proposition 50 – but this time with a note of triumph.
—Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
In a speech given Monday at the New York Press Club, Owens echoed Cooper’s remarks and applauded Pelley for taking a stand.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 3 June 2026
At the time, Fidel Castro lauded him in a speech.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for speech
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speech
Noun
-
The British Museum elected to postpone a Jewish Culture Month event that was scheduled to take place last Thursday, May 28th due to concerns that the talk—a lecture on Ancient Israel and Judah—might be disrupted by protests.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
1 June 2026
-
That’s the case for the group Cabral and some 35,000 other youth belong to, Hakuna, which started in the early 2010s in a Madrid parish when a group of college students set up a weekly hour of Eucharistic adoration, preceded by a short lecture and followed by a meetup at a local bar.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
While Liden’s displacement and depersonalization of private property in Unheimlich Manöver could be perceived as the inversion of Darboven’s cocooning, the artists share a preoccupation with the silent speech of objects and with language as a spatial entity.—
Erika Landström,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times list of Notable Children’s Books.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
The talks are deadlocked over $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, a top official previously told CNN.—
Dalia Abdelwahab,
CNN Money,
7 June 2026
-
The day before Putin speaking at the conference rejecting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer of face-to-face talks.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 June 2026
Noun
-
Before that first experience in 2016, ‘ayahuasca’ wasn't a part of my vocabulary.—
Michaela Trimble,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
-
Developing a reading habit can broaden vocabulary, boost knowledge and stimulate the imagination.—
Sneha Dhandapani,
CNN Money,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
Set the scene One of the very smartest hotel addresses in London, The Connaught Hotel’s energy crackles and fizzes from morning through night, with coming and goings, reunions, a hum of excitement and a permanent sense of occasion.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
-
The memorial is made up of a garden with 50 granite steps leading to a massive tablet carved with a portion of his inauguration address from 1961.—
Marina Watts,
Entertainment Weekly,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Kansas City is brushing up on its interpretive skills, preparing to welcome and accommodate visitors of all tongues for the world’s largest sporting event.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
4 June 2026
-
Symptoms such as swelling of the lips or tongue, hives and difficulty breathing warrant emergency medical attention.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
Though the speech was likely written by the government—in keeping with long-standing tradition that the monarch speaks for the government during high-profile oration—the king did find a way to put his own flair on a few of the jokes, and got plenty of laughs from Congress.—
Erin Vanderhoof,
Vanity Fair,
29 Apr. 2026
-
And Edward Norton tried to see McKellen’s poetry and raise him an even more on-the-nose piece of oration.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Brig is in the Upper Valais, a gaunt and conservative place where the inhabitants speak Walliser German, an Alpine dialect that many Swiss people find unintelligible.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
The contemporary entertainment industry pushes that logic into nearly grotesque territory, as film and TV productions compete against 24/7 internet feeds and a rapidly changing meme dialect designed to always leave someone out of the loop.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Speech.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speech. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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