acceptance

noun

Definition of acceptancenext
1
as in obedience
a readiness or willingness to accept or adapt to a given circumstance She eventually reached an acceptance of her mother's sometimes challenging eccentricities.

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2
as in approval
permission given to do something They had a fancy dinner to celebrate his acceptance to Columbia University.

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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 acceptance But look past insurance acceptance and ask whether more people are actually getting – and staying on – treatment, and the picture darkens. — Yashaswini Singh, The Conversation, 28 Oct. 2026 The 90-minute telephone conversation was met alternatingly with anger and acceptance in Europe, which has largely sought to make Moscow a pariah since its 2022 invasion. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2026 Applications to highly-selective programs, with acceptance rates below 40%, fell just 9%. — Preston Fore, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026 Task architecture breaks goals into owners, dependencies, acceptance criteria and review rules. — Christophe Kolb, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for acceptance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acceptance
  1. obedience
  2. approval
  3. acquiescence
  4. accreditation
  5. compliance
  6. agreement
  7. submissiveness
  8. confirmation
Noun
  • As its civil lawsuits foundered, the Justice Department reached for another weapon to compel obedience from state election officers.
    — Barton Gellman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
  • My abuser understood the power of words, and used them to dictate the terms of my obedience.
    — Debbie Millman, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of obedience
Noun
  • To buy their votes for the constitutional amendment (which needs 60% approval statewide), Tallahassee will use state tax dollars to subsidize those rural counties.
    — Steve Geller, Sun Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Raman said the police union was rewarding Bass in exchange for her approval of pay raises the city couldn’t afford.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of approval
Noun
  • The greatest near-term threat to world order, then, is what might be called the Taiwanese chip crisis, in which Beijing mobilizes to take control of the island and the United States must choose between armed resistance and acquiescence.
    — NIALL FERGUSON, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026
  • There are similar issues in competitive races in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Republican acquiescence could hurt the party on Election Day as their constituents face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of acquiescence
Noun
  • The program would lose its accreditation, and students would pay the price.
    — Beth Davis Sramek, Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this year, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training — the state’s law enforcement accreditation body — released a model policy on the use of AI by police.
    — Jakob McWhinney, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of accreditation
Noun
  • Yes, but this doesn’t save a business from the compliance nightmare.
    — Daniel Kjellén, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The Justice Department routinely sends election monitors to polling locations to ensure compliance with laws and that voters’ rights are protected.
    — Adam Van Brimmer, AJC.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of compliance
Noun
  • The agreement is tied to Lloyd and cannot be transferred to another campus.
    — Tim Lonergan, Sun Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
  • And the ratings would certainly suggest the country is in firm agreement on the Celebrity Traitors superiority this season.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of agreement
Noun
  • Attraction is a function of parentage and looks and submissiveness.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 6 May 2026
  • But for Coles, his indoctrination to law enforcement has been a different level of submissiveness.
    — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
Definition of submissiveness
Noun
  • That refusal does not bode well for their ability to impartially decide matters involving this administration, and underscores the importance of the Senate’s confirmation power.
    — James Speyer, New York Daily News, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Trump, in his inimitable way, has tried to get around that by appointing acting people and appointing people to jobs that don’t require Senate confirmation, and so on, and then basically outsourcing large parts of the government.
    — David Remnick, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of confirmation

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acceptably
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Cite this Entry

“Acceptance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acceptance. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about acceptance

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