1
as in cracked
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language
we deciphered the hidden message to find out when we were supposed to meet
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in understood
to have a clear idea of
a convoluted thriller, the plot of which I was never able to actually decipher
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Recent Examples of deciphered
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, scientists identified the virus, deciphered its secrets, concocted a vaccine, put it into production, and rendered the disease manageable – all within a year.
—
David Blumenthal, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026
Researchers using advanced imaging technology have deciphered 79 previously invisible inscriptions — including love notes, drawings of gladiators, and everyday messages — on a wall in the ancient city of Pompeii, offering a rare window into the lives of ordinary people nearly 2,000 years ago.
—Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 9 Mar. 2026
Using this method, researchers deciphered 79 additional inscriptions that had eluded scholars for generations.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
The sun dances to its own (currently less-than-deciphered) rhythms, moving through an 11-year-long cycle.
—Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 10 Dec. 2025
At first this voice from the heavens has seemingly sent a benign message but it’s quickly deciphered to be a DNA cocktail for Earthlings to investigate.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
While expeditions in the early 1990s deciphered crucial insights into the ship’s final moments, one expedition drew sharp criticism after a crewman’s body was found.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
All these tropes — gaydar and girls without it — make for easier narratives, but the presumption that the codes of the heart can be deciphered on the body is one that, outside the world of absurdist comedy — and probably sometimes within it as well — can wound and damage.
—Kelly Foster Lundquist, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
Its inscriptions are currently being deciphered.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
David Blumenthal, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026
Researchers using advanced imaging technology have deciphered 79 previously invisible inscriptions — including love notes, drawings of gladiators, and everyday messages — on a wall in the ancient city of Pompeii, offering a rare window into the lives of ordinary people nearly 2,000 years ago.
—Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 9 Mar. 2026
Using this method, researchers deciphered 79 additional inscriptions that had eluded scholars for generations.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
The sun dances to its own (currently less-than-deciphered) rhythms, moving through an 11-year-long cycle.
—Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 10 Dec. 2025
At first this voice from the heavens has seemingly sent a benign message but it’s quickly deciphered to be a DNA cocktail for Earthlings to investigate.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 14 Nov. 2025
While expeditions in the early 1990s deciphered crucial insights into the ship’s final moments, one expedition drew sharp criticism after a crewman’s body was found.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 4 Nov. 2025
All these tropes — gaydar and girls without it — make for easier narratives, but the presumption that the codes of the heart can be deciphered on the body is one that, outside the world of absurdist comedy — and probably sometimes within it as well — can wound and damage.
—Kelly Foster Lundquist, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
Its inscriptions are currently being deciphered.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deciphered
Verb
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Running from 2005 through 2013 for a total of nine seasons, the sitcom just cracked 200 episodes, following the hapless and offbeat employees at a fictional paper company.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
29 Mar. 2026
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The series traded on the glamorous sheen of their mythos but never cracked below it.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Stout, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and has worked in the mental health field her entire career, understood what her uncle needed, and Hochheiser himself wasn’t shy.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
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In the ’90s and 2000s, under Senegalese presidents Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade, who extended Leopold Senghor’s vision of art as statecraft, Dak’Art benefited from government backing not just as a matter of policy but because these presidents understood that culture mattered.—
Smooth Nzewi,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
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As the philosopher Earl Weaver once noted, momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, which, roughly translated, means hold your horses.—
Kevin Sherrington
Mar. 27,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
What souring sentiment means for the economy Declining consumer sentiment has not translated to weaker spending in recent years.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Jacir said many of those screenings opened eyes to a history many people never knew.—
Zach Dennis,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Apr. 2026
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Badinter knew that debate-club arguments about deterrence and human-rights law and the possibility of judicial error would be ineffective.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The researchers say the QWERTY keyboard system is more successful than the version that decoded mental handwriting.—
Tanya Lewis,
Scientific American,
16 Mar. 2026
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These signals are digitized and decoded by some form of specialist software.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The company expects a little more of an impact in its Q2, but Cook said it’s fully comprehended in the above Street outlook of 48% to 49%.—
Jeff Marks,
CNBC,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Outfielder Alan Roden, acquired by the Twins at last July’s MLB trade deadline, sealed the victory with a two-run double that broke a 7-7 tie in the eighth innings.—
Pioneer Press,
Twin Cities,
29 Mar. 2026
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Three people were killed when a tour helicopter broke apart near Honolulu in April 2019, and that December seven people died - including three children - when one crashed in turbulent weather near the famed Na Pali Coast.—
JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When Huston met Edwards during the 2026 NBA All Star Weekend, Edwards recognized Huston and even brought up the Rondo video.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
29 Mar. 2026
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Five months earlier, Johnson-Swartz had been recognized as one of seven finalists for the Colorado Teacher of the Year.—
Logan Smith,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deciphered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deciphered. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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