1
as in lived
to have life
stories that begin with the familiar line "once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in ranked
to take or have a certain position within a group arranged in vertical classes
our school's football team is first in its division
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in happened
to take place
the party is next Saturday
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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show current usage.
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Recent Examples of been
Three races in, there’ve been unforeseen winners, unpredicted changes to the schedule and the unanticipated reality of regulation changes dawning.
—
Amanda Davies, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026
The fans who’ve been down with me since the ’99 and 2000s, the ones who’ve been riding with me all the way to now.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Mar. 2026
Phillips told Us Weekly there’d been the possibility of getting a kidney from her brother, Aron, but doctors ultimately turned him down.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2026
And there’ve been many times throughout filming this where Paul and I were just sort of stranded, the two of us, and that offers a huge opportunity to bond.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 14 Feb. 2026
Historically, the Air Jordan 15 been one of the least popular of Jordan’s signature shoes, but there is a segment of people who appreciate its oddball design, including Billie Eilish, who collaborated on it in 2021 and calls it her favorite Air Jordan.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 13 Feb. 2026
How historic have the 2026 winter storms been?
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 7 Feb. 2026
Some who’d been leaders under previous coaches did not work for Payton, like guard Dalton Risner and safety Justin Simmons.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 24 Jan. 2026
In Australia, the debate has been more fraught than almost anywhere else, and so the government’s announcement caught out even those who’ve been at the negotiating table.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2025
Amanda Davies, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2026
The fans who’ve been down with me since the ’99 and 2000s, the ones who’ve been riding with me all the way to now.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 27 Mar. 2026
Phillips told Us Weekly there’d been the possibility of getting a kidney from her brother, Aron, but doctors ultimately turned him down.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2026
And there’ve been many times throughout filming this where Paul and I were just sort of stranded, the two of us, and that offers a huge opportunity to bond.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 14 Feb. 2026
Historically, the Air Jordan 15 been one of the least popular of Jordan’s signature shoes, but there is a segment of people who appreciate its oddball design, including Billie Eilish, who collaborated on it in 2021 and calls it her favorite Air Jordan.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 13 Feb. 2026
How historic have the 2026 winter storms been?
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 7 Feb. 2026
Some who’d been leaders under previous coaches did not work for Payton, like guard Dalton Risner and safety Justin Simmons.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 24 Jan. 2026
In Australia, the debate has been more fraught than almost anywhere else, and so the government’s announcement caught out even those who’ve been at the negotiating table.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for been
Verb
-
East of the Ohio River, elk lived throughout the Appalachian Mountains from South Carolina to New York and were reported to have been most abundant in the mountainous areas of the Cumberland and Allegheny Plateaus.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
There’s so many things happening at the same time, which is appropriate for a character that’s lived over 200 years and is an amalgamation of everybody else’s perception of him.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
Levi Jones, a 33-year-old business owner, pulled up to Sacred Eye Tattoos in Hollywood last week and sat for eight hours getting a photorealistic black-and-white portrait of Mangione on his leg.—
Amanda Rosa,
Orlando Sentinel,
24 Dec. 2024
-
The birthday boy and his big sister Sterling Skye, 3, each sat between one of their parents’ laps.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
24 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
China is North Korea’s top economic lifeline, accounting for the vast majority of the country’s foreign trade, and has long ranked as Pyongyang’s most important diplomatic partner.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
5 June 2026
-
That year, Georgia was ranked as the worst-performing state in a Postal Service service performance report for the second quarter of 2024 that tracked transit time for mail delivery.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
5 June 2026
Verb
-
In the production, directed by Jo Bonney, Susanna arrives there before realizing what has happened, a scene change that moves briskly enough to surprise you in the audience too.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
5 June 2026
-
The dinghy could provide insight into what happened the night 55-year-old Lynette Hooker of Michigan disappeared.—
Cristian Benavides,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
That slower, batch‑style approach existed, in part, because updating critical systems can mean taking them offline, and there is always a risk that a new patch breaks something important.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
-
This wild area includes sharks, which have existed for more than 400 million years.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
9 June 2026
Verb
-
Where once had stood a dense canopy of three-hundred-year-old trees, forest cover spanning thousands of miles, gave way to charred stumps and bare earth—a landscape of wanton destruction.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
-
Outside the museum is the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial, which is located where the Murrah Building once stood and is free and open to the public every day of the year.—
USA TODAY Network,
USA Today,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
Each person held their sarongs in different ways, over both shoulders or draped on one, around their necks, balled up in a fist, placed neatly on a lap.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
-
Next week’s launch would have been only New Glenn’s fourth, after its third flight on April 19 placed a satellite for the company AST SpaceMobile in an orbit that was lower than planned because of a malfunction of the rocket’s second stage.—
Lee Billings,
Scientific American,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Tracy acknowledged that the recovery hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected, but emphasized that isn’t because of anything Anthony’s done wrong.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
30 May 2026
-
Unfortunately for the Trojans, Texas State wasn’t done yet.—
Jose de Jesus Ortiz,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Been.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/been. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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