1
as in marketplace
the buying and selling of goods especially on a large scale and between different places a government agency in charge of regulating interstate commerce

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in interaction
doings between individuals or groups when I was doing outside consulting for the company, I never had much commerce with the in-house staff

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

Synonym Chooser

How is the word commerce distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of commerce are business, industry, trade, and traffic. While all these words mean "activity concerned with the supplying and distribution of commodities," commerce and trade imply the exchange and transportation of commodities.

When might business be a better fit than commerce?

The meanings of business and commerce largely overlap; however, business may be an inclusive term but specifically designates the activities of those engaged in the purchase or sale of commodities or in related financial transactions.

Where would industry be a reasonable alternative to commerce?

The words industry and commerce are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, industry applies to the producing of commodities, especially by manufacturing or processing, usually on a large scale.

When would traffic be a good substitute for commerce?

The synonyms traffic and commerce are sometimes interchangeable, but traffic applies to the operation and functioning of public carriers of goods and persons.

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of commerce View gallery - 6 images In the shadow of a service outage that affected millions of users, outside of Richland, Washington, internet commerce giant Amazon is building the first of a series of modular nuclear power stations to protect its data services from outages. New Atlas, 20 Oct. 2025 Global commerce has been under strain this year as companies grapple with a flurry of on-again, off-again trade policies; the new port fees will likely make shipping rates more volatile, analysts said. Ben Smith, semafor.com, 17 Oct. 2025 Eduardo Aguilar, who was living in Dallas, is charged with transmitting in interstate or foreign commerce a communication containing a threat, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2025 The company expects the tool to touch sales, commerce, marketing and operations teams. Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for commerce
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commerce
Noun
  • DraftKings, which has lost roughly $5 billion in market cap over the last few weeks due to the growth of prediction exchanges, is planning to launch its own futures marketplace in the coming months.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Amazon connects its users with third-party merchants on its marketplace.
    NPR, NPR, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • In an August 2025 report published by Heat Initiative and ParentsTogether Action, researchers logged 669 harmful interactions across 50 hours of conversation with 50 Character.
    Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025
  • The pair frequently appear in one another’s content, sharing (like sisters are apt to do) their interactions in their day-to-day lives with followers.
    Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Ironically, stiff upper lips seem to have almost vanished as both sexes burst into tears if anything either lovely or lousy happens to them.
    Jilly Cooper, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The differences in longevity between the sexes were much more pronounced in the wild than in zoos for both mammals and birds, as there were fewer stressors, such as harsh climates and predators, in zoos, the study said.
    Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Jerry Jones said the Micah Parsons trade was made with the purpose of capturing a sustainably winning team in Prescott’s prime.
    Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Oct. 2025
  • If the Astros pursue someone via trade, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report believes Mitch Keller would be a viable option.
    Drew VonScio, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Tensions were already high between Washington and Bogotá over President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to curb drug trafficking, threatening the countries’ close security and commercial relations.
    J.D. Capelouto, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Anthropic also hired senior Biden-era officials to lead its government relations team, Sacks noted.
    MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The problem is that the world of interpersonal relations is hard to put a number on.
    Big Think, Big Think, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Tensions were already high between Washington and Bogotá over President Gustavo Petro’s attempts to curb drug trafficking, threatening the countries’ close security and commercial relations.
    J.D. Capelouto, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The country's Ministry of Transportation reported that more than 10,000 people died in traffic accidents in 2024.
    Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Here's your daily look at traffic on major highways in the Kansas City area.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • There are alignments of anemia with some of the early modern symptoms of green sickness—though very few people today are likely to think anemia is caused by a blockage of bodily humors curable by intercourse.
    Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 27 Sep. 2025
  • One 2024 survey found that about 60 percent of college students reported having had vaginal intercourse; a 2022 Pew Research survey reported that more than half of all adults under 30 were in a relationship at the time.
    Molly Langmuir, The Atlantic, 25 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Commerce.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commerce. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

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