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
Alex Krasnok, Fortune, 21 June 2026
The market was not suddenly deciding that Novo Nordisk was a bad business.
—Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
Attorneys for the Justice Department asked Cooper for more time to respond to Beatty, saying the Kennedy Center is still deciding how to proceed.
—Joe Walsh, CBS News, 20 June 2026
Just like in their first World Cup triumph in 1954, West Germany went behind early in the deciding match.
—Will Jeanes, New York Times, 20 June 2026
North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3 on Monday.
—ABC News, 20 June 2026
North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3, which would be played Monday.
—Eric Olson, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2026
The administration quickly faced several lawsuits, and the Supreme Court is deciding one of those cases right now.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 14 June 2026
For patients deciding whether to restart treatment, the evidence suggests the metabolic case for trying again is not undermined by previous regain.
—Allison Palmer
updated June 13, Miami Herald, 13 June 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
Engineers still need to examine the bridge design, inspection history, traffic loads, weather, material condition and measurement uncertainty before deciding whether to repair, restrict traffic or close a bridge.
—Alex Krasnok, Fortune, 21 June 2026
The market was not suddenly deciding that Novo Nordisk was a bad business.
—Jim Osman, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
Attorneys for the Justice Department asked Cooper for more time to respond to Beatty, saying the Kennedy Center is still deciding how to proceed.
—Joe Walsh, CBS News, 20 June 2026
Just like in their first World Cup triumph in 1954, West Germany went behind early in the deciding match.
—Will Jeanes, New York Times, 20 June 2026
North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3 on Monday.
—ABC News, 20 June 2026
North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3, which would be played Monday.
—Eric Olson, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2026
The administration quickly faced several lawsuits, and the Supreme Court is deciding one of those cases right now.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 14 June 2026
For patients deciding whether to restart treatment, the evidence suggests the metabolic case for trying again is not undermined by previous regain.
—Allison Palmer
updated June 13, Miami Herald, 13 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deciding
Adjective
-
Canada has a chance to take a decisive step toward the knockouts against unfancied Qatar, with all four teams in their group level on 1 point after the Qataris earned a surprise tie with Switzerland.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
19 June 2026
-
Southgate missed the decisive penalty, in 1996, in a match against Germany.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
18 June 2026
Verb
-
McCarthy doesn’t paint Alex and Ethan as perfect allies or perfect victims, instead choosing to explore the shortcomings in their friendship through mostly gender-neutral growing pains.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
19 June 2026
-
Langley has recruited women to open for every date, choosing Gabriella Rose, Kaitlin Butts, Avery Anna, Laci Kaye Booth, and Madeline Edwards for the tour, which kicked off in May and concludes this August in, appropriately, Texas.—
Marissa R. Moss,
Rolling Stone,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
The November matchup between Collins and Ossoff is expected to be one of the most competitive Senate contests in the country and could play a major role in determining the balance of power in Washington.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
-
The California Highway Patrol has not confirmed if the heat played a role in their death, and is waiting for an autopsy by the Shasta County Coroner before determining their cause of death.—
Noe Padilla,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
Verb
-
Angelina Guatemala, 64, counted on federal food stamps after retiring a couple of years ago in Ogden, Kansas, from assorted jobs arranging flowers, decorating cakes in shops, and preparing meals.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
-
Let the flowers rest in the bucket of water for an hour to rehydrate fully before arranging them.—
Viveka Neveln,
Better Homes & Gardens,
16 June 2026
Verb
-
After settling along India’s west coast, many Parsis built their lives as merchants in bustling ports.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
-
That challenges our previous assumption that plague spillover was a side effect of people taking up farming and settling in permanent villages and towns, living closer to each other and to an assortment of animals (and their fleas).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
18 June 2026
Verb
-
Adoring the outcome means deriving joy from seeing the success of others.—
Chip Bell,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
-
But deriving a unified theory of volcanism will require a geologic Manhattan Project.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
However, a three-judge panel selected for a legal assessment of the findings found that the investigation was not conclusive enough.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 June 2026
-
Bartošák-Harlow said there's no conclusive evidence of who has and who has not paid a toll in the past, and there wasn't any sort of record, adding that companies should not be paying a toll for passage through an international waterway.—
Tom Bowman,
NPR,
17 June 2026
Verb
-
The La Roja boss didn’t react quickly enough to the situation, instead opting for more of the same after the halftime break – rightly or wrongly relying on his mainstay players who largely brought him to this point – and didn’t change anyone until the 71st minute.—
Patrick Sung Cuadrado,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
-
Take it a step further by opting to wash your clothes in cold water, which can reduce your energy usage by more than 50%.—
Karla Radka,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deciding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deciding. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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