as in proverb
an often stated observation regarding something from common experience
her mother endlessly repeated the apothegm "cleanliness is next to godliness"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 apothegm
As with every Together Live speaker, each apothegm is met with exuberant applause.
—
Zoë Ghertner, Vogue, 10 Jan. 2019
Zoë Ghertner, Vogue, 10 Jan. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apothegm
Noun
-
And there’s a proverb, this idea of the secret of getting old.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
26 Nov. 2025
-
For nine months, Erasmus spent his short nights in a modest dorm and his long days in the print shop, expanding on his collection of proverbs Adagiorum chiliades while Aldus proofread, craftsman carefully laying sets of print and rolling paper through the press.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Redhawks kept things interesting again, surviving 86-84 against Massachusetts, but hey, better to win ugly than lose pretty, as the saying goes.—
Lindsay Schnell,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Work With a Partner Ultimately, the easiest way to paint faster is to have more than one person working on the job—as the saying goes, many hands make light work.—
Timothy Dale,
The Spruce,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Mostly Mute Monday tells an astronomical story in images, visuals, and no more than 200 words.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
2 Feb. 2026
-
Though Proust is never mentioned, the French author’s own words even appear almost unaltered when McGahern recounts his youthful absorption in books.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Holmes’ feed is a babbling stream of self-help epigrams, ankle-deep reflections and many, many photos of herself.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
10 Dec. 2025
-
That celebrated epigram is delivered by the character of Octave, who is the greatest creation of Renoir’s career—not least because he’s played by Renoir in a performance that’s essentially a self-portrait, even an onscreen self-creation.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
Noun
-
And this aphorism of Thucydides is presented as inevitable, as the natural logic of international relations reasserting itself.—
Haley Ott,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
-
In 1975, Eno and the artist Peter Schmidt devised a deck of a hundred cards, each printed with a blunt aphorism intended to crack open some creative conundrum.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
29 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Apothegm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apothegm. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
