ANNEAL Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

anneal

verb

Definition of anneal

as in to harden

to make stronger (as through hardship) She was annealed by the tragedies of her childhood.

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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 anneal Engineers sparingly tried annealing hardware space, so Juno's experience could be instructive for future missions. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025 They’re served in a heap in a bowl, the logs of potato annealed, shiny and splotched with balsamic vinegar. — Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025 Workable quantum solutions that make use of annealing systems are now in use. — Chuck Brooks, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2025 After annealing, the links are strong covalent bonds [below]. — IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2024 See All Example Sentences for anneal

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anneal

Verb

If frozen for longer than 10 minutes, the roll-up will lose its crunchy texture and will harden.

— Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 July 2026
If cold from the fridge, your butter will seize and harden, shellacking the slices in a thick coating instead of a light sheen.

— Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 July 2026

Definition of harden

Verb

The optimistic interpretation is that Nolan’s visibility among directors has never been higher, and that his leadership role only strengthens his relationship with the very voters who determine the DGA winner.

— Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 July 2026
Los Alamos architect Galen Shipman said engineers concentrated on improving memory bandwidth for each CPU core while strengthening support for irregular computing workloads.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 July 2026

Definition of strengthen

Verb

Miranda Priestly, the no-nonsense visionary, pushes for excellence and learns to temper her high standards with a more collaborative outlook.

— Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Iraq ultimately didn’t score a goal against Senegal but that did not temper the passion shown by the country’s fans.

— Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 June 2026

Definition of temper

Verb

The Athletics have been the worst team in Major League Baseball for nearly two months and reinforced that point Friday night in their first game since the All-Star break.

— Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 18 July 2026
Reinaldo Dias da Rocha, who is from the same community, said his father had already encouraged him not to hunt sharks, but the project had reinforced the importance of preserving the animals.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 July 2026

Definition of reinforce

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annals

anneal

annealed

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“Anneal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anneal. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of anneal

verb

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