1
as in realizing
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 knowing
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 catching on (to)
Verb
-
Sharp ultimately had to comp just the one meal Monday before realizing that one Toast terminal at the restaurant could store the transactions.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
21 Oct. 2025 -
Nothing was more freeing than finally realizing how poisonous these people are.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
At last weekend’s general assembly of Barcelona club members, Laporta tried to thread a delicate path when defending the plan to play a domestic game over 4,500 miles away, knowing that Tebas is not exactly popular with his team’s supporters.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Her mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, was working her shift at Hennepin County Medical Center, where several of the wounded were taken, before even knowing her children’s school was involved.—
Cindy Von Quednow,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
His motorsports journey took a slightly different path compared to other F1 prospects, dreaming of being a NASCAR driver before discovering his strength lay in road courses.—
Madeline Coleman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Joe Flacco is discovering the pleasures of dining alone.—
Keith Pandolfi,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The emerging discipline of geomythology is coming into its own, as scientists, historians, and other scholars see the rich potential for understanding how humans have made sense of their observations of nature over time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Experts say there are biological and seasonal reasons behind the fall-time sleep disruption, and understanding them can help teens get better rest.—
Kris Ann Valdez,
Parents,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Though historians have called for further research before making claims, the proposal of a script rooted in sign language might open the chance to explore a new way of deciphering Mayan art and show the ancient civilization to be even more sophisticated and efficient than scholars even knew.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Sep. 2025
-
Now, a team of international astronomers has succeeded in deciphering the gravitational wave signal, GW190412, to determine more about the collision and the resulting event that sent an infant black hole hurtling through space.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In his eight wins, all eight have come inside the distance, with only two fights seeing a second round.—
Brett Appley,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Looking forward to seeing Becks on our plane ride home.—
Lydia Mee,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Spike Lee will receive the Career Achievement Award, recognizing his four-decade legacy as one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation, with a body of work that includes Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and Da 5 Bloods.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Investors should be heartened by the optimism from these financial executives, while recognizing more discernment is needed before taking any sort of action at the stock level.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Nevertheless, after hearing that exchange, my Athletic colleague Ken Rosenthal tracked down the manager himself to explore this very topic.—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Even after hearing that member's most candid review of the experience, Willmore admits that his younger self still longed to be a part of Greek life.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Catching on (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catching%20on%20%28to%29. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share