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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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

The courses wind through open fields, climb hills and test both endurance and precision. —

Michael Howes, Baltimore Sun, 11 Apr. 2026 The food tour company also offers small group culinary tours that include cooking courses taking place on select dates or that can be scheduled at any time. —

Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 11 Apr. 2026 Caballero is taking communications and geography courses this year and will take biology, biotechnology, English and statistics as a senior. —

Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 10 Apr. 2026 The five courses are available online for free and are prerequisites to obtaining a Firefighter Type II certificate, which is given to entry-level wildland firefighters who are responsible for fire suppression, fuels management and mop-up operations. —

Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2026 Two walking-only links courses—North by Tom Doak, South by Coore & Crenshaw—deliver world-class golf framed by cinematic coastal vistas. —

Amy Louise Bailey, Travel + Leisure, 9 Apr. 2026 During an early April visit, the meal included 17 courses, all small bites featuring white fish, tuna, scallops, urchin, crab and A5 wagyu beef. —

Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 8 Apr. 2026 That’s because in 101-level art history courses, Duchamp is still taught as the man who invented the readymade, seizing objects that were already out there in the world—urinals and bottle racks, shovels and bicycle wheels—and re-presenting them as sculptures of his own. —

Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 8 Apr. 2026 And as destination races grow in popularity, the courses offered are getting even more spectacular—the half and full marathons on this list prove it. —

Madison Flager, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Apr. 2026

Verb

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 More fundamentally, the Christian nationalism that courses through Project 2025 has been somewhat eclipsed by other priorities. —

David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 29 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for courses

Noun

After the team shared results with state officials, DTSC committed to perform soil testing at 100 homes that had their work done early in the process, before procedures underwent an overhaul.

— Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Even the name is a misnomer, Mackey said, since the same pain can arise among women who’ve had other procedures, including lumpectomies and lymph node surgeries.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 11 Apr. 2026