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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
Janine Henni, People.com, 10 May 2025
Whereas Elliot remains something of a cipher, a manchild whose amply displayed abs have more definition than his character.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 July 2025
Stephen Nash, New York Times, 25 July 2017
See All Example Sentences for cipher
Noun
The late Queen was the longest-serving sovereign in British history upon her death at age 96 and had reigned for a record 70 years, with her son's accession sparking an extensive transition of coins, stamps, ciphers and more to reflect his new reign.
—Janine Henni, People.com, 10 May 2025
Whereas Elliot remains something of a cipher, a manchild whose amply displayed abs have more definition than his character.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 July 2025
Verb
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
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My memoir was built of gaps, juxtaposition, weird little nothings.—
Cheri Lucas Rowlands,
Longreads,
16 Dec. 2024
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The one whose legs turned nothings into somethings, improvising the Lions’ entire defensive game plan into a pile of ash?—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
10 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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Given three months to get healthy and figure something out, he’s been open to suggestions.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
6 Aug. 2025
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But if Grant Hill, who was previously plagued by ankle pains during his NBA career, can figure it out, the rest of us have no excuse.—
Victoria Uwumarogie,
Essence,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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For six innings in the City Series matchup Saturday night, the Cubs and White Sox matched zeros in front of a split sellout crowd of 38,432 at Rate Field.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
27 July 2025
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Fenway’s accountants couldn’t stomach the zeroes on Devers’ deal.—
Bill Speros,
Boston Herald,
16 July 2025
Noun
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Tell me a little bit about the technical side of filming a dwarf and an elf together.—
Devan Coggan,
EW.com,
13 Oct. 2022
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Other new characters include Disa, the first female dwarf ever shown in the Lord of the Rings series.—
Ethan Millman,
Rolling Stone,
22 July 2022
Verb
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The other was the failure to calculate boat emissions from the vessels shuttling workers to turbines located 11 miles offshore, a distance so far that the turbines are barely visible from land.—
Anna Broughel,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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Each metric was then graded on a 100-point scale, and each state was given a weighted average to calculate its overall score.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Stay cool with clothing: Select lightweight and loose-fitting outfits for enhanced comfort.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
13 Aug. 2025
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Both pieces are made with a soft, lightweight knit that will keep you comfortable—even if the plane’s AC is blasting—and the sweater cardigan can easily be taken on or off.—
Stephanie Osmanski,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 July 2025
Verb
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This reduces decision fatigue for developers, keeps performance consistent, and allows the model to allocate computing resources dynamically, going deep when a problem requires it, or staying lightweight for simpler queries.—
Ron Schmelzer,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Tesla's focus on Dojo and another computing cluster called Cortex were meant to improve the company's advanced driver assistance systems, and to enable Musk to finally deliver on his promise to turn existing Teslas into robotaxis.—
Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cipher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cipher. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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