COURSES Synonyms: 243 Similar and Opposite Words

courses 1 of 2

noun

plural of course

as in procedures

a way of acting or proceeding the president's usual course has been to obtain advice from several people and then make up his own mind

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Relevance

as in classes

a series of lectures on a subject a course on American history from the colonial period to the present

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as in processes

a usually fixed or ordered series of actions or events leading to a result set out on the course that would lead to a college degree

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as in routes

the direction along which something or someone moves the river follows a southeasterly course to the ocean

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as in canals

an open man-made passageway for water the Erie Canal was replaced by a much larger course, the New York State Barge Canal

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courses

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of course

as in tracks

to go after or on the track of after coursing the conspirators for months, the federal agents closed in and made the arrests

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in traverses

to make one's way through, across, or over once the threat of terrorism became apparent, fighter jets began coursing that corridor on a daily basis

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as in races

to proceed or move quickly racehorses coursing down the track

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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 courses

Noun

Avalanche safety courses taught people to cross risky sections of a mountain one at a time. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026 In addition to its singles events, Met@Chabad offers dating and relationship courses, as well as personalized guidance. — Rachel Wolf, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026 Bert McCarty, a Clemson University professor of turfgrass science and management, said golfers like how top courses are so different — from incorporating the ocean in places near beaches to relying on inclines in the mountains. — ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026 Students at Sacramento New Technology Early College High School are required to take college courses before earning their high school diploma, a model school leaders say is unique in California. — James Taylor, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026 The old art building will have Duneland Labradoodles and the Conservation Building will have Games2u NWI, which includes inflatable courses, a rock climbing wall and mini golf, according to the fair website. — Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 One of the courses will have ocean views and was designed by Rees Jones. — Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026 These days, Tallman leads online courses on personal growth and runs Quest Retreats, a travel business. — Jp Mangalindan, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Aug. 2026 The daily courses run throughout Costa Smeralda and the Maddalena archipelago. — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2026

Verb

What could be a stock campus ice-queen role is subverted throughout the season, through the empathy for the character that courses through her performance. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 27 July 2026 The same love of equality and freedom that courses through the Declaration motivated her white great-grandmother to campaign for suffrage and her African American grandfather to found a chapter of the NAACP in the Jim Crow South. — Michael Kazin, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026 And about the obsession that courses through dozens of countries on the continent. — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 3 June 2026 But Open, Heaven also courses with youth’s great agony, the cruelty that learning to love should be inexorably followed by learning to grieve its undoing. — Gabrielle Bellot, Literary Hub, 27 Feb. 2026 Such is the power of cachaça, the essential and irresistible Brazilian sugar cane spirit that courses through each round of tropical cocktails passed across the bar. — Elazar Sontag, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for courses

Noun

Homendy has warned that without making changes in regulations, operating procedures and laws, close calls and incidents like what happened with Marine One could continue to occur.

— Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
The former quarterback said the procedures were eye-opening and humbling.

— David Brandt, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of procedures

Noun

In the provincial capital Pontianak, schools suspended in-person classes after air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels and health officials reported a rise in respiratory illnesses.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
The double whammy of new classes and high temps is all the more reason to treat yourself — or the back-to-schooler in your life — at one of these incredible new ice cream and gelato destinations around the region.

— Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of classes

Noun

The facility will be used to build and test equipment, work with real-world feedstocks and prepare processes for commercial deployment.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Aug. 2026
Improving representation is an important step, but leaders must also build processes that invite different viewpoints and give team members room to challenge prevailing ideas.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of processes

Noun

One of the alternative routes would reduce the project’s footprint in the Anza-Borrego Desert by about nine miles, and go through the community of Borrego Springs instead.

— Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2026
Gabriel’s routes to points are sensational, with eight goal involvements last season, plus earning defensive contribution points on 11 occasions and 30 bonus points.

— Holly Shand, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of routes

Noun

As Jan races north along the canals, his unwanted passengers force him to confront a reality far removed from his own and to see life from a new perspective.

— Leo Barraclough, Variety, 12 Aug. 2026
In the morning, travelers will awake among the graceful canals and bridges of Venice, with a private water taxi to ferry them into the heart of the Venetian lagoon to explore the city’s many islands.

— Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of canals

Verb

The Great Lakes’ piping plover population reached an all-time low of about 13 pairs in the 1980s after habitat loss due to beach development, according to Chicago Piping Plovers, which tracks the birds.

— Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 9 Aug. 2026
This measure tracks swings in a broad collection of business output of goods and services, adjusted for inflation.

— Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of tracks

Verb

While the show fluidly traverses the years before and after it, dropping in on Hal and John at key moments in their lives, the investigation that puts the two men in buddy-cop mode unfolds in 2016, two decades after the William Tell scene.

— Judy Berman, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
In your periphery to the left, a spacewalker traverses the exterior of the station.

— Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 26 July 2026

Definition of traverses

Verb

November races to watch With three months until election day, four swing districts in California, Washington and Arizona could play key roles.

— Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
In The Secret of Secrets novel, symbologist Robert Langdon races against ancient forces and time to rescue a missing scientist and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind.

— Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2026