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as in nobody
a person of no importance or influence
it was either write the Great American Novel or be consigned to the status of a cipher in the annals of literature
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to figure
to determine (a value) by doing the necessary mathematical operations
were surprised by how much we had spent on the cruise after we had ciphered out the grand total
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cipher
Vogue, 23 July 2025
To the police detectives who visit his school, teen behavior is a cipher to be decoded, almost literally: their breakthrough arrives when the lead detective’s young son takes pity on his dad and tells him what all the emojis in Jamie’s Instagram replies mean.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Tor Constantino, Forbes.com, 5 Sep. 2025
These remnants, signals from an earlier phase of our human condition, have been endlessly ciphered by generations of archaeologists in the Bears Ears region (which is named for twin buttes near its center).
—Stephen Nash, New York Times, 25 July 2017
See All Example Sentences for cipher
Noun
Here, oak doors have brass push plates adorned with the royal cipher of Edward VII, and the 13 decorative fireplaces were salvaged from other London landmarks.
—Vogue, 23 July 2025
To the police detectives who visit his school, teen behavior is a cipher to be decoded, almost literally: their breakthrough arrives when the lead detective’s young son takes pity on his dad and tells him what all the emojis in Jamie’s Instagram replies mean.
—Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Verb
The real challenge from AI will likely emerge in the weeks and months ahead as firms cipher through Judge Mehta’s enforcement of behavioral requirements.
—Tor Constantino, Forbes.com, 5 Sep. 2025
These remnants, signals from an earlier phase of our human condition, have been endlessly ciphered by generations of archaeologists in the Bears Ears region (which is named for twin buttes near its center).
—Stephen Nash, New York Times, 25 July 2017
See All Example Sentences for cipher
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cipher
Noun
-
My memoir was built of gaps, juxtaposition, weird little nothings.—
Cheri Lucas Rowlands,
Longreads,
16 Dec. 2024
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But nothings more peaceful than tomorrow to a man going through pain today.—
Becca Longmire,
Peoplemag,
22 Feb. 2024
Noun
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More importantly, the narrative explores both sides of the conflict from the POV of grunts and 'nobodies' trying to navigate the post-Civil War state of the galaxy before the fighting stops.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
4 Aug. 2025
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None of these nobodies is performing like Grimes just yet, and until someone does Grier better get active trying to find a handful of veteran cornerbacks whom this team can call on, and sign to patch up the weakest unit on the team.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
30 May 2025
Verb
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The attendance figures that MLB and other sports leagues publicize typically represent the number of tickets teams sell, not the number of people who actually show up to games.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
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The Browns need to figure that out about both Gabriel and Sanders by the end of the year.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Tigers got runners on base, had men in scoring position, then stranded them helplessly and collected zeroes on the scoreboard like seashells.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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One final, desperate possession Sunday ended at their own 48 with zeroes on the clock.—
Elliott Teaford,
Oc Register,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And all these dwarves and elves and humans go, ‘What?—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
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These two dwarf galaxies orbit the Milky Way at distances of 163,000 and 200,000 light-years, respectively, moving through our galaxy's outer halo of hot gas not too dissimilar, but on a much smaller scale, from the Virgo Cluster's halo of hot gas.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The cost-of-living readings for July, August and September are used to calculate the annual Social Security COLA.—
Scott Horsley,
NPR,
1 Oct. 2025
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As a general rule of thumb, always calculate and compare both the cash price and the points redemption value before booking.—
Meghan Hunter,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Standouts include the brand’s Pro-Collagen Marine Oil, a lightweight antiaging facial serum that plumps skin and reduces fine lines, plus the Cleansing Balm, a Glamour-editor favorite that gently removes makeup, dirt, and oil.—
Alanna Martine Kilkeary,
Glamour,
2 Oct. 2025
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Replacing gel with teased roots, her lightweight, yet voluminous style conjured up Houston’s texture, like at her Madison Square Garden performance circa 1988.—
Essence,
Essence,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Scott flagged that there is still a shortage of computing capacity.—
Arjun Kharpal,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
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Bill Briggs, Chief Technology Officer, Deloitte Hall argued that much of the investment so far has been concentrated in chips and at hyperscalers, the massive tech and cloud-computing companies that have spent the past three years building the infrastructure to support their AI projects.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cipher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cipher. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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