construing

verb

present participle of construe
as in explaining
to make plain or understandable the role of the justices of the Supreme Court in construing the constitution

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 construing Thus, Smith certainly isn’t surprised that the audience is construing the show as anti-AI, but the Pluribus brain trust would prefer not to undercut the overall viewing experience by explicitly defining it one way or another. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for construing
  1. explaining
  2. clarifying
  3. illustrating
  4. demonstrating
  5. interpreting
  6. simplifying
Verb
  • Carpino retired in April, without ever explaining what was not right in the organization or, based on the standings, repairing it.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • The traditional experience requires waiting on hold, explaining the situation and hoping an agent can help.
    — Shep Hyken, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of explaining
Verb
  • For an oily scalp, more frequent washing may be necessary, or clarifying shampoos may be useful.
    — Sherri Gordon, Health, 13 July 2026
  • Minutes later royal sources counter-briefed, clarifying that Harry had not formally accepted the invite in time, and that the offer had since been withdrawn.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 8 July 2026
Definition of clarifying
Verb
  • That's a key technical level watched and used by traders, illustrating a stock or index's trend.
    — Zev Fima,Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 5 July 2026
  • Wingate weaves this historical horror with a modern-day mystery, illustrating the lasting trauma of children stolen for profit and the unbreakable bond of blood.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
Definition of illustrating
Verb
  • Kyiv has also stepped up long-range drone and missile strikes inside Russia, targeting energy, military and logistics infrastructure, demonstrating the progress Ukraine has made in developing domestic strike capabilities.
    — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • Boston Consulting Group suggests CEO hopefuls start cultivating a social media presence and demonstrating the ability to represent a company at least five years before expecting to take the top job.
    — Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 5 July 2026
Definition of demonstrating
Verb
  • LLMs, for example, are not given robust, explicit prescriptions on grammar, or an overly structured map for interpreting what matters and why about every point of knowledge in their datasets.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 13 July 2026
  • The murder and its fraught causes are recounted by a Bengali analyst, who is himself interpreting them from the records of a different analyst with connections to Chatterjee’s two living children.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
Definition of interpreting
Verb
  • Managing those demands — simplifying decisions, controlling tempo and conserving energy — may be as much a feature of playing in the heat as the physical strain itself.
    — Alan McCall, New York Times, 11 July 2026
  • The reform also significantly expanded access to medical cannabis by removing it from the country's list of narcotic drugs, simplifying medical cannabis prescribing.
    — Dario Sabaghi, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
Definition of simplifying

Browse Nearby Words

construes
construing
consul
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Construing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/construing. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on construing

Nglish: Translation of construing for Spanish Speakers

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!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

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

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
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
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All