as in decisive
serving to put an end to all debate or questioning
the project's prohibitive cost was the deciding factor in its cancellation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in choosing
to come to a judgment about after discussion or consideration
they decided to go out for pizza after the movie was over
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in determining
to give an opinion about (something at issue or in dispute)
the judge decided that the defendant was not liable for damages
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in arranging
to come to an agreement or decision concerning the details of
we waited for our captors to decide our fate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in settling
to make final, definite, or beyond dispute
the huge sum that they were offering decided the matter: we would sell the house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in deriving
to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information
the commanding officer decided that the soldier was indeed telling the truth
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deciding
Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
The bullpen gave up the lead on the first pitch, and then three more in the deciding 10th inning.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2025
Travis weeks earlier cited as the deciding and unprecedented factor.
—Chris Vannini, The Athletic, 9 Dec. 2024
As a result of the split, Sheboygan city residents play no deciding role in either of the two districts, which both lean heavily Republican.
—Journal Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2024
Several people said the job fell to Tillis to convince enough Republican colleagues to vote in favor of the bill so no one person had to be the final deciding vote.
—Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 5 Dec. 2022
Playoff baseball is never easy. Shelby County knows that all too well following a highly-competitive deciding game against a fresh-faced St. Paul’s squad with rally blood pumping through its veins.
—Evan Dudley, al, 23 Apr. 2022
The jurors in the Rittenhouse trial were overwhelmingly White not only in the original pool of 179 prospects but also in the final deciding panel of 12, where there was only one person of color.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN, 23 Nov. 2021
Houck would be an obvious candidate to start again if the Sox are able to push this series to a fifth and deciding game.
—BostonGlobe.com, 9 Oct. 2021
Brendan Marks, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Insurers, not doctors, are increasingly deciding when and how patients receive cancer treatment.
—Alex Mejia Garcia, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
Dressed in black, Tolbert said the debate was not about deciding City Hall’s fate but gathering information to make that call later.
—Devyani Chhetri, Dallas Morning News, 8 Mar. 2026
In the end, keeping the spotlight on herself drew fierce scrutiny that may have pushed the president over the edge in deciding whether to keep her on board.
—Rebecca Santana, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
At Italia New York Pizza 2, the only restaurant in Adamstown, Fernandez sees all kinds of customers — neighbors who have lived in the area for decades and are deciding to sell their homes, and construction workers stopping in from work creating nearby data centers for lunch.
—Lily Carey, Baltimore Sun, 7 Mar. 2026
Still, the toughest part of the move for the family was deciding what to leave behind.
—Wendy Goodman, Curbed, 7 Mar. 2026
Cactus League performance alone won’t be the deciding variable as San Francisco’s brass assembles the bench.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026
This market emerged in earnest last fall, following the Supreme Court deciding to hear the case against IEEPA tariffs in September, signalling to speculators there was a real shot of the tariffs being struck down.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
Instead, the person must show race was the crucial and deciding factor.
—Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2025
The bullpen gave up the lead on the first pitch, and then three more in the deciding 10th inning.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 27 Mar. 2025
Travis weeks earlier cited as the deciding and unprecedented factor.
—Chris Vannini, The Athletic, 9 Dec. 2024
As a result of the split, Sheboygan city residents play no deciding role in either of the two districts, which both lean heavily Republican.
—Journal Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2024
Several people said the job fell to Tillis to convince enough Republican colleagues to vote in favor of the bill so no one person had to be the final deciding vote.
—Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 5 Dec. 2022
Playoff baseball is never easy. Shelby County knows that all too well following a highly-competitive deciding game against a fresh-faced St. Paul’s squad with rally blood pumping through its veins.
—Evan Dudley, al, 23 Apr. 2022
The jurors in the Rittenhouse trial were overwhelmingly White not only in the original pool of 179 prospects but also in the final deciding panel of 12, where there was only one person of color.
—Omar Jimenez, CNN, 23 Nov. 2021
Houck would be an obvious candidate to start again if the Sox are able to push this series to a fifth and deciding game.
—BostonGlobe.com, 9 Oct. 2021
Verb
Sarr, in contrast, was a 6-foot-8 sparkplug during Duke’s game-deciding run, punctuated by a full-court steal-and-slam that caused Blue Devil fans to erupt and forced Davis to call a timeout.
—Brendan Marks, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Insurers, not doctors, are increasingly deciding when and how patients receive cancer treatment.
—Alex Mejia Garcia, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
Dressed in black, Tolbert said the debate was not about deciding City Hall’s fate but gathering information to make that call later.
—Devyani Chhetri, Dallas Morning News, 8 Mar. 2026
In the end, keeping the spotlight on herself drew fierce scrutiny that may have pushed the president over the edge in deciding whether to keep her on board.
—Rebecca Santana, Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2026
At Italia New York Pizza 2, the only restaurant in Adamstown, Fernandez sees all kinds of customers — neighbors who have lived in the area for decades and are deciding to sell their homes, and construction workers stopping in from work creating nearby data centers for lunch.
—Lily Carey, Baltimore Sun, 7 Mar. 2026
Still, the toughest part of the move for the family was deciding what to leave behind.
—Wendy Goodman, Curbed, 7 Mar. 2026
Cactus League performance alone won’t be the deciding variable as San Francisco’s brass assembles the bench.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026
This market emerged in earnest last fall, following the Supreme Court deciding to hear the case against IEEPA tariffs in September, signalling to speculators there was a real shot of the tariffs being struck down.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 7 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deciding
Adjective
-
Ellison faces no similar issues and has strong incentive to be decisive.—
Josef Adalian,
Vulture,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Machado portrayed the episode as a decisive turning point in Venezuela’s long political crisis.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Kiwis moving abroad is not uncommon, and more Kiwis generally are choosing to leave than before; in the year ending November 2025, almost 122,000 people emigrated, a 4% jump from the previous year and higher than a previous spike in 2012.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Respect yourself by choosing quality items over the cheapest possible options, then treat those purchases with care.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Now the focus has shifted to determining the criminal responsibility of other high-ranking former officials, including several former health ministers.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Similarly, there are tools that can look over a biopsy and assist a pathologist in determining how aggressive of a cancer a patient has.—
Emily Brindley,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Authorities conducted a sting operation in September, arranging to meet her in a hotel room that Mays rented.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
-
All that interior volume should inspire some serious creativity in terms of arranging different floor plans.—
C.C. Weiss
March 05,
New Atlas,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Walker connected from beyond the arc to give Colorado its largest lead at 31-14 with six minutes left in the second period before settling for a 37-25 advantage at halftime.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Hopes for any stability and settling out, however, have been quickly shaken.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The very legitimacy of deriving general principles from the particulars of experience can never be established from experience without already having the principle in hand.—
Christopher Beha,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Large language models represent the first technology capable of analyzing, contextualizing and deriving insights from this avalanche of information.—
Sahar Hashmi,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
As of Saturday night, after Maxey took that nasty spill in the waning moments of the Philadelphia 76ers’ 125-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, there wasn’t anything conclusive on his status.—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Meta and other tech firms have long argued publicly that there is no conclusive evidence linking social media to addiction or other mental health challenges.—
CNN,
Mercury News,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Bella Hadid, however, has been bucking this trend throughout her time in Paris and beyond, largely opting for denim that highlights her footwear rather than swallowing them up.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Nineteen states have passed bills opting to adopt daylight saving time as the permanent standard time.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deciding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deciding. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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