Synonyms of bends

bends 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of bend

1

as in arches

to cause to turn away from a straight line

she bent the blade of the knife when she got it jammed in the drawer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arches
• hooks
• curves
• bows
• twists
• swerves
• curls
• turns
• waves
• crooks
• deflects
• veers
• swirls
• rounds
• inflects
• reflects
• weaves
• arcs
• loops
• diverts
• coils
• spirals
• warps
• meanders
• kinks
• inclines
• winds
• entwines
• twines
• slopes
• dents
• dimples
• incurves
• incurvates
• enrolls
• declines

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightens
• unbends
• uncurls

2

as in devotes

to occupy (oneself) diligently or with close attention

bent herself to the task for the rest of the day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• devotes
• applies
• gives
• buckles
• commits
• addresses
• gets cracking
• works
• gets with it
• turns one's hand
• spends
• sets (to)
• gets one's act together
• settles (down)
• reapplies
• stresses
• exerts
• exhausts
• engages
• involves
• troubles
• busies
• concerns
• humps
• wears out
• readdresses
• knuckles down
• hustles
• plows
• taxes
• grinds
• plunges (in)
• strains
• puts out
• plods
• pitches in
• carries on
• plugs (away)
• pegs (away)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• plays
• idles
• dawdles
• dallies
• fools around
• fiddles (around)
• trifles
• putters (around)
• messes around
• monkeys (around)
• potters (around)
• dillydallies

3

as in aims

to point or turn (something) toward a target or goal

bent all of his efforts toward making his first documentary film

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aims
• casts
• directs
• holds
• heads
• sets
• levels
• trains
• focuses
• pinpoints
• steers
• sights
• faces
• concentrates
• inclines
• orients
• bears

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• curves
• deflects
• diverts
• shunts
• averts
• detours
• sidetracks
• rechannels

4

as in curves

to turn away from a straight line or course

the stream bends slightly to the east

Synonyms & Similar Words

• curves
• sweeps
• bows
• turns
• arches
• swerves
• trends
• rounds
• winds
• falls off
• wheels
• loops
• hooks
• arcs
• curls
• spirals
• circles
• coils
• crooks
• curlicues
• twists
• deviates
• veers

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightens

5

as in distorts

to change so much as to create a wrong impression or alter the meaning of

attorneys bending the facts to put their client in the most favorable light

Synonyms & Similar Words

• distorts
• misrepresents
• twists
• warps
• slants
• falsifies
• cooks
• perverts
• misinterprets
• complicates
• misstates
• obscures
• garbles
• colors
• fudges
• misrelates
• confuses
• censors
• mistakes
• misspeaks
• masks
• disguises
• dissembles
• misdescribes
• mistranslates
• camouflages
• bowdlerizes
• whitewashes
• veils
• lies
• glosses (over)
• prevaricates
• belies
• mystifies
• equivocates
• mixes (up)
• palters
• confounds
• fibs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• explains
• interprets
• illustrates
• clarifies
• illuminates
• spells out
• clears (up)
• deciphers

6

as in attaches

to cause (something) to hold to another

bend a leash to the dog's collar

Synonyms & Similar Words

• attaches
• affixes
• ties
• glues
• connects
• clips
• fastens
• straps
• fixes
• adheres
• clamps
• hangs
• clenches
• sticks
• pins
• links
• screws
• clasps
• harnesses
• tackles
• tacks
• nails
• clinches
• latches
• rivets
• toggles
• joins
• yokes
• lashes
• staples
• cinches
• shackles
• bolts
• laces
• unites
• reattaches
• pastes
• buttons
• plasters
• coapts
• hasps
• refastens
• resecures
• reaffixes
• battens
• refixes
• belays
• does up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• detaches
• splits
• undoes
• unfastens
• unhooks
• divides
• parts
• disconnects
• separates
• severs
• dissociates
• breaks up
• divorces
• loosens
• uncouples
• sunders
• disjoins
• looses
• disunites
• unties
• dissevers
• disjoints
• unlinks
• unbinds
• unyokes
• unfixes
• unlashes

bends

2 of 2

noun

plural of bend

1

as in curvatures

something that curves or is curved

it's hard to see around that bend in the road, so be careful

Synonyms & Similar Words

• curves
• curvatures
• turns
• angles
• winds
• folds
• bows
• arches
• arcs
• crooks
• inflections
• twists
• corners
• curls
• slopes
• warps
• windings
• coils
• loops
• rings
• swirls
• spirals
• circles
• inclines
• buckles
• kinks
• convolutions
• reflections
• rounds
• ringlets
• flexures
• curlicues
• inclinations
• hairpins
• declines
• doglegs
• incurvatures
• turnoffs

2

as in tilts

the act of positioning or an instance of being positioned at an angle

did knee bends for exercise

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tilts
• tips
• lists
• cocks
• nods
• inclinations
• twists
• anglings
• turns
• dips
• bows
• veers

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bends

Verb

Benglis bends flat material into shape; so, in the end, does couture. — ABC News, 6 July 2026

So when light from a background object passes a foreground object, the light bends around it. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 6 July 2026

As if the arc of history just naturally bends towards justice without aggrieved people putting pressure on it. — Sarah Schulman, Literary Hub, 29 June 2026

The star crossing in front of the other one brightens and bends the latter object’s light, thereby acting like a giant magnifying glass. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 25 June 2026

If a planet is orbiting the closer star, its gravity also slightly bends this light. — CBS News, 24 June 2026

When Georgie bends down and peers into the drain, a pair of eyes stare back at him. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 15 June 2026

Harvest the flowers as the buds first begin to open and when the stem still bends easily. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 14 June 2026

Build a fair number upstream, and the appeals layer downstream quietly bends it back. — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026

Noun

When two stars align almost perfectly from Earth’s perspective, the gravity of the nearer one bends and magnifies the light from the more distant star, acting like a cosmic magnifying glass. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 6 July 2026

Adidas’s 1994 Predator added strips of rubber on the shoe’s toe, which provided extra grip that the company and players say translated to bigger, curvier bends on the ball. — Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 2 July 2026

The loop then reaches Schengen and the Moselle Valley, where vineyards, river bends and wine villages lead travelers back toward the east. — Emese MacZko, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026

Despite Iran’s threats, 20 of those ships had taken a route far south of Iran that hugs the coastline of the United Arab Emirates and bends along Oman’s Musandam Peninsula, avoiding Iranian waters. — Matthew Mulligan, NBC news, 26 June 2026

Follow with 5–10 side bends per side, reaching toward your knee while keeping your movements slow and controlled. — Rikkilynn Shields Hannigan, Health, 24 June 2026

Few officials have studied more carefully how the global energy system bends and buckles under pressure. — Clay Chandler, semafor.com, 19 June 2026

Nine goals for your country is not the tally of a player who transforms teams and bends tournaments to their will. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 14 June 2026

But just around a few bends in the sandstone walls, life began to appear. — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 7 June 2026