1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

catches on (to)

verb

present tense third-person singular of catch on (to)
1
as in realizes
to come to an awareness of she caught on to the fact that they were planning a surprise party

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in knows
to have a clear idea of he finally caught on to the concept of phototaxis

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for catches on (to)
  1. realizes
  2. knows
  3. discovers
  4. understands
  5. sees
  6. recognizes
  7. hears
  8. deciphers
Verb
  • Hopefully Pochettino realizes that Weah belongs there, on the right, where his verticality remains his best asset, rather than as a miscast left winger.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Murdoch considers a mother who finds her daughter-in-law uncouth but realizes one day that her judgment might be unfair.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of realizes
Verb
  • Defensive lineman Zach Sieler knows a little something about that.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Brown, who was the head coach at Troy from 2015 to 2018 and West Virginia from 2019-2024, at least knows the realities of coaching a Group of Six program.
    — Mac Engel September 5, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of knows
Verb
  • Decades later, Santa discovers the misplaced letter and immediately sets out to make things right.
    — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Written by Pennette, the untitled comedy stars Pierce as a man who discovers that the unexamined life can bite you in the ass.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of discovers
Verb
  • The former head of Google China, who has also held senior executive roles at Microsoft and Apple, understands intimately how Silicon Valley leaders think.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Sacramento State’s team, to a man, understands who and what is invading Hornet Stadium on Saturday night on ESPN, a thundering herd of buffalo rooted in tradition in the form of the North Dakota State Bison.
    — Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of understands
Verb
  • Taking a page from professional players associations, Abruzzo sees sectoral bargaining—where unions and multiple employers set baseline, industry-wide compensation and workplace standards—as the preferable long-term outcome for college athletes.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Later, in her dying moments, Wuornos sees Lizzie beckoning to her.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of sees
Verb
  • Recently, Muñoz received the 2026 Women in Supply Chain Forum Trailblazers Award, which recognizes women who have spent at least a decade helping advance the supply chain industry.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • But those rights are separate from whether copyright law recognizes an output as copyrightable.
    — Morey Haber, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of recognizes
Verb
  • When Hernández hears a single Chinese tourist has arrived, a smile crosses his face.
    — Juan Carlos López, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Twice that day, Issa hears about earnest stuff Anton said to win voters over to Paul Baker’s side.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of hears
Verb
  • Qualcomm’s chip can run Linux, along with Arduino software, and can even do computer vision, which deciphers what a camera sees and translates it into software.
    — Kif Leswing, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2025
  • With that base knowledge and his opponent’s game tape, Nolan analyzes wide receiver alignments and deciphers the offense's attack.
    — Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Sep. 2025
Definition of deciphers
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.

Browse Nearby Words

catches one's eye
catches on (to)
catches up
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Catches on (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catches%20on%20%28to%29. Accessed 20 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of volition

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All