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verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word correct different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of correct are accurate, exact, nice, precise, and right. While all these words mean "conforming to fact, standard, or truth," correct usually implies freedom from fault or error.

correct answers
socially correct dress

When could accurate be used to replace correct?

The synonyms accurate and correct are sometimes interchangeable, but accurate implies fidelity to fact or truth attained by exercise of care.

an accurate description

When can exact be used instead of correct?

The words exact and correct are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, exact stresses a very strict agreement with fact, standard, or truth.

exact measurements

Where would nice be a reasonable alternative to correct?

While in some cases nearly identical to correct, nice stresses great precision and delicacy of adjustment or discrimination.

makes nice distinctions

How do precise and exact relate to one another, in the sense of correct?

Precise adds to exact an emphasis on sharpness of definition or delimitation.

precise calibration

How are the words right and correct related?

Right is close to correct but has a stronger positive emphasis on conformity to fact or truth rather than mere absence of error or fault.

the right thing to do

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 correct
Adjective
The key to a successful vacation is packing the correct pieces for your destination, and that list should always start with comfortable footwear. Rachel Trujillo, Travel + Leisure, 20 June 2025 But Woodin conjectured that the first option — that V is nicely structured, with a definable tower of cardinals — is correct. Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2025
Verb
However, some of Trump's EOs are simply issued to correct or pause previous orders. Meredith Kile, People.com, 18 June 2025 For now, the technology’s flaws are readily detected and corrected. Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for correct
Recent Examples of Synonyms for correct
Adjective
  • Despite the vast expansion in the number of sensors, the insurance institute’s testing found, the male THOR dummy was less accurate than the current Hybrid dummies, which also had limitations.
    Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 23 June 2025
  • But even if Trump’s characterization turns out to be accurate, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities may not mean the end of the Iranian nuclear threat.
    Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 23 June 2025
Adjective
  • Hollywood studios and craftspeople may be busy agonizing over the proper role of AI’s potential within the film industry, but Chinese studios aren’t slowing down.
    Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 19 June 2025
  • Most interesting is Cane’s prim and proper wife, Peyton (Danielle Campbell).
    Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • Pioneer’s formal notice comes after the practice was revealed by Daniel Swift, a principal at the global tax consulting firm Ryan that represents a number of commercial property owners in Boston, and reported on this month by the Herald.
    Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 25 June 2025
  • And on Tuesday, a day before his confirmation hearing, a whistleblower filed a formal complaint alleging Bove planned to knowingly defy court orders and withhold information from judges about the administration's deportation agenda.
    Carrie Johnson, NPR, 25 June 2025
Verb
  • Wilson said amending the city’s sign ordinance to allow digital billboards could also open San Diego up legally to other types of advertising the city has prohibited.
    David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2025
  • But a provision tucked inside the Senate Republican bill to enact President Trump's second-term agenda would force the USPS to sell off the brand new trucks and cancel or significantly amend the contract for the remaining 58,800 that are due to be delivered over the next 10 years.
    Tracy J. Wholf June 24, CBS News, 24 June 2025
Verb
  • This can then be offset against matching or contrasting clothes.
    Laia Farran Graves, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
  • The changes to the federal health care programs, particularly Medicaid, were always expected to become a centerpiece of the GOP package, a way to offset the costs of providing tax breaks for millions of Americans.
    Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • Road America punishes hesitation and rewards nerve, making every session breathtaking.
    Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 20 June 2025
  • This week, Israel acted—not to punish Iran, but to stop the machinery of destruction that threatens the region and the world.
    Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025
Adjective
  • Beyond all of the twists and many, many, many turns that kept viewers tuned in every Tuesday night, the core of the show was about true female friendship and the loyalty that comes with that, no matter what.
    Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025
  • This milieu is both true to history and solves one of the series’ longstanding structural flaws.
    Alison Herman, Variety, 20 June 2025
Adjective
  • Padilla ordinarily is a very polite guy, extraordinary civil — calm, soft-spoken, the opposite of an aggressive loudmouth.
    George Skelton, Mercury News, 18 June 2025
  • Gentle readers often ask Miss Manners how to respond to questions put to them for which there does not appear to be any polite answer.
    Judith Martin, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Correct.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/correct. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

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