BELIEVES Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

believes

verb

present tense third-person singular of believe

as in accepts

to regard as right or true only the most naive car buyer would have believed the salesman's claim that the dealership was actually losing money on the deal

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in thinks

to have as an opinion despite the horrors she witnessed and endured, Anne Frank steadfastly believed that "people are really good at heart"

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 believes With her appointment of a special prosecutor, Hochul believes Van Houten is not up to the task. — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 2 Oct. 2026 Jones said the team believes its drilling results raise questions about some previous explanations of the site as a natural rock formation. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Castro, who is running for a second term, has denied any wrongdoing in that matter and believes she will eventually be cleared. — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026 Doug Lipari, executive director of NYC Talent, believes that apprenticeships, which offer paid, on-the-job learning and credentialing, are a win-win. — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 2 Oct. 2026 Martin believes short and intermediate maturities make the most sense. — Michelle Fox, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026 Royal expert Ingrid Seward, who knew Diana and whose latest book, Catherine and Diana, chronicles the lives of the Princesses of Wales, believes the battle to control Diana’s legacy will continue beyond next year’s milestone anniversary. — Katie Nicholl, Vanity Fair, 2 Oct. 2026 Pierre-Antoine Capton, co-founder and chairman of Mediawan, one of Europe’s top production powerhouses and biggest consolidators, believes Ellison’s commitments will hold. — Alex Ritman, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026 That should worry anyone who believes that enforcement ought to focus on actual threats to public safety. — Don Bacon, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for believes

Verb

Debounce delay is the time between when a key on a mechanical keyboard is pressed and when the keyboard accepts the keypress as an input.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 5 Oct. 2026
Put another way, roughly two employees are weighing an exit for every one who accepts a job at a company.

— Kristin Stoller, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of accepts

Verb

Knowing someone's baseline characteristics is not the same as knowing what that person thinks about this decision today.

— Leslie John, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
What to read next For Mars, the team thinks that this balance was reversed, with roughly three-quarters of its mass appearing to come from planetesimals, and the remaining quarter from pebble accretion.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of thinks

Verb

People are complicated, and Juno Temple understands the character well enough to embody Keeley’s contradictions and make sense of them, most of the time.

— Keith Phipps, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2026
A student who understands the course content should be able to demonstrate that understanding regardless of the evaluation method.

— Neetu Arnold, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of understands

Verb

Eric Virey, principal displays analyst at Yole Intelligence, considers FALD a hardware feature first and foremost.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026
That has left the kingdom searching for friends beyond Washington, for allies ready to put rockets where the rhetoric is and assist in a fight Saudi Arabia considers existential.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of considers

Verb

Underneath, these wide-leg jeans are timeless, comfortable, and easy to walk in—and with a satin blouse like this one from Aritizia, you’ll be set for wherever your stroll takes you.

— Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Oct. 2026
The clip takes fans through the making of the music video from start to finish, with Swift breaking down her creative process, directing scenes and sharing funny moments with the video’s stars, Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell.

— Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of takes

Verb

Swift appears as a spectral figure trying to warn Johnson that, based on her own experience, her rich husband has more sinister intentions than his current bride imagines.

— Chris Willman, Variety, 4 Oct. 2026
Our work re-imagines these ancient tombs as theatrical spaces, built to perpetuate a form of metaphysical human experience.

— Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of imagines

Verb

At the Irish Rep, director Ciarán O’Reilly has brought O’Neill’s expressionist howl back for a swift, sturdy, smaller-scale revival that now feels unnervingly on-the-pulse.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
For the residents of Shelekhov, however, the official narrative of a routine pneumonia death feels completely disconnected from the sudden quarantine of 200 people.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of feels

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“Believes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/believes. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of believes

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