associates 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of associate
1
2
as in identifies
to think of (something) in combination she still associates Memorial Day with her long-ago fiancé, who died in Vietnam

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
4
5
as in mixes
to take part in social activities you should try to associate with people your own age

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

associates

2 of 2

noun

plural of associate

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 associates
Verb
The productivity boom everyone associates with the personal computer didn’t actually show up in the macro data until 15 years after the PC was commercialized. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 July 2026 The two-time Oscar winner, who was born in Concord and grew up in the East Bay, associates that sign with some of his favorite Bay Area childhood memories. Randy Myers, Mercury News, 15 June 2026 The third vessel, for example, contains circular discs symbolizing water, which Chan associates with rebirth. Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026 In practical terms, that means Forest now associates humans with food and safety, the opposite of what a wild deer needs to survive. Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2026 Greene’s heart-to-heart media tour has been jarring liberals and anyone else who associates her with conspiratorial beliefs and outrageous comments. Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025 Everyone associates that with us. Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2025 Hunger can be another motivator, especially if your feline associates certain times or behaviors with food. Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025 Especially given the fact that the latter only associates itself with organic style stars, not limited to Solange and Beyoncé. Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
The company’s compliance, merchandising and sourcing associates in 14 countries received additional training and tools to meet and maintain responsible sourcing requirements. Jennifer Bringle, Footwear News, 3 Aug. 2026 The filing also describes an alleged phone call from one of Rodriguez's associates. Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026 Witherspoon said that Arvest associates are prepared to talk to customers about the changes in order to meet customer expectations. Gabe White, Arkansas Online, 24 July 2026 Zelenskyy recently weathered a politically damaging corruption investigation involving several of his closest associates, including his former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who was dismissed amid mounting public pressure. ABC News, 23 July 2026 Walmart, which is America’s largest private employer, with many entry-level staffers, has increased its starting wages for associates by 93% since 2015, according to the company. Tami Luhby, CNN Money, 23 July 2026 Some members and associates of the Seidler family are expected to retain at least a portion of their stakes in the Padres. Dennis Lin, New York Times, 22 July 2026 Yet the mental horizons of Maucci and his associates were wider and more mobile than those of the big shots, small-time lawyers, and clerics who’d remained to vegetate in their old Lunigiana. Literary Hub, 22 July 2026 The health of Welsh has much to do with the fact that it is being transmitted, particularly in north Wales, by parents to children in the ordinary, unself-conscious way one associates with any living vernacular. Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for associates
Verb
  • Those skills are put to similar use in Tony, in which Bourdain travels to Provincetown on a whim in hopes of impressing a girl (Emilia Jones) by lying about receiving a fellowship to write a novel.
    Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The film follows Souleymane Everston Adowo Freudenreich, an Afro-German trans man who travels to Dakar, Senegal, to repair his father’s kora.
    Roberto Prieto, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The report identifies 10 jobs that offer six-figure compensation without the intense pressure linked to executive leadership, investment banking or sales.
    Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Citation analysis identifies the domains and exact URLs influencing those answers, helping teams see whether their own pages, publishers or other third-party sources shape the response.
    Kaitlyn Gomez, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Two fuels, one engine At the heart of the demonstration is Amogy’s AMMDrive platform, which combines the company’s ammonia reformer with 2G Energy’s Agenitor 412 engine-generator.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Aug. 2026
  • The result is labs like Sonic Jeel, which focuses on sonic cultures; the Anthro-tech Atelier, which combines anthropology and design; and xLab, which designs typefaces and electronic displays built for Arabic scripts.
    Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, ARTnews.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • There were 223 seats at the Lee’s Summit restaurant, not all of them in use, like the 24 in the open-air patio or at the two bars — one that expands into a third outdoor patio for when the weather cooperates.
    Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 3 Aug. 2026
  • If the weather cooperates, the possibilities are endless — hiking, surfing, sunbathing, strolling, gazing at the stars in the sky.
    Ed Silverman, STAT, 31 July 2026
Verb
  • Anyone who mixes politics, discipline, money and power without transparency cannot lead anything.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026
  • The slate mixes feature debuts from emerging filmmakers with new projects from directors already recognized on the festival circuit.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 July 2026
Noun
  • In interviews, colleagues and friends have painted the portrait of Galliano before his downfall as a brilliant designer as well as an incorrigible drunk who trashed hotel rooms.
    Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • To that end, Gabler and her colleagues wanted to know more about the composition of the slime of a particular kind of terrestrial species that's native to central Europe, called Cepaea nemoralis, or the brown-lipped snail.
    Ari Daniel, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • In the film, Field portrays Tova, the cleaning lady who bonds with the somewhat cranky Marcellus, an octopus wise behind his years, in Netflix’s screen adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel.
    Denise Petski, Deadline, 8 July 2026
  • Once there, Emily bonds with four other counselors — played by Alice Wordsworth, Cherry Moore, Lea Rose Sebastianis and Ella Reece — who begin to explore their witchy reality together.
    William Earl, Variety, 26 June 2026
Verb
  • Based on our internal data, registration on gambling platforms correlates with higher default rates.
    Artem Lalaiants, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • Appetite suppression through smelling of dark chocolate correlates with changes in ghrelin in young women.
    Cathy Nelson, Health, 20 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Associates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/associates. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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