as in decoding
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1
as in cracking
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in understanding
to have a clear idea of
a convoluted thriller, the plot of which I was never able to actually decipher
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deciphering
Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2026
The clicks are part of a growing sperm whale phonetic alphabet that researchers at CETI are deciphering.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 26 Mar. 2026
Binary neutron stars have long been considered the best bet for deciphering what lurks within.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 15 Mar. 2026
When your speech is clear and reliable, no fog, no spin, no quiet evasions, people stop wasting energy deciphering you and start collaborating with you.
—Adam Dietz, Big Think, 24 Feb. 2026
Pitch tipping — the art of deciphering what might be coming based on small tells a pitcher might have — is a legal and common practice.
—Evan Drellich, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
Health care professionals are now caught between deciphering new legislation and their duty to provide quality care.
—Eleanor Sobel, Sun Sentinel, 5 Feb. 2026
As an avalanche and dead bodies ratchet up the suspense, Zach must lean on his mother’s wisdom to fight for his life while deciphering a confusing undercurrent of danger, violence and betrayal among the survivors.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
By building out a picture of the whales’ health, habits and diet, researchers are deciphering the many ways humans impact their lives and guiding conservation actions that may mean life or death for the orcas.
—Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
Verb
The study creates new criteria for deciphering old dice and allows archaeologists to further explore how games have evolved over time, researchers say.
—Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2026
The clicks are part of a growing sperm whale phonetic alphabet that researchers at CETI are deciphering.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 26 Mar. 2026
Binary neutron stars have long been considered the best bet for deciphering what lurks within.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 15 Mar. 2026
When your speech is clear and reliable, no fog, no spin, no quiet evasions, people stop wasting energy deciphering you and start collaborating with you.
—Adam Dietz, Big Think, 24 Feb. 2026
Pitch tipping — the art of deciphering what might be coming based on small tells a pitcher might have — is a legal and common practice.
—Evan Drellich, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
Health care professionals are now caught between deciphering new legislation and their duty to provide quality care.
—Eleanor Sobel, Sun Sentinel, 5 Feb. 2026
As an avalanche and dead bodies ratchet up the suspense, Zach must lean on his mother’s wisdom to fight for his life while deciphering a confusing undercurrent of danger, violence and betrayal among the survivors.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
By building out a picture of the whales’ health, habits and diet, researchers are deciphering the many ways humans impact their lives and guiding conservation actions that may mean life or death for the orcas.
—Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deciphering
Noun
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Brains guiding machines To make the system practical, the researchers built an adaptive decoding model that learns general brain patterns and then adjusts to individual users.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Mar. 2026
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That delay may limit applications that require fast, detailed signal decoding, such as real-time speech translation.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The style mishaps kept piling up as cracking wise about wardrobe and hair malfunctions became both a media and national pastime.—
Merle Ginsberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2026
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Yet, the three — even Cavallari and Conrad, who were pitted against each other in the 2000s — were warm and chummy, cracking jokes and enthusiastically agreeing with one another.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In the end, the deepest release isn’t about getting a medical tag, but rather about understanding why those unrelenting obstacles continued to exist.—
Lucy Jones
April 11,
Miami Herald,
11 Apr. 2026
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That design, which is unlike anything else in the economy, makes the gas-price sign a kind of key to understanding American life.—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Saudi Arabia expanded its Saudization program — requiring companies to hire only Saudis for certain roles or face penalties — to cover 69 additional job types, including data entry, secretarial work, and translation.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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There was a boom of translation from Japanese of short stories in that decade, with collections like Ivan Morris’ Modern Japanese Stories pointing readers to a new postwar canon of Japanese writing, from Kawabata to Mishima.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Lisa Lee meditates on translating emotion.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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This motion is driven by the converter region, which acts as a molecular hinge, translating small conformational changes in the motor domain into larger mechanical movements of the lever arm.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In these cases, knowing which funds are legally protected and exploring debt relief options early are your best defenses.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
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All this is happening with uncertainty about a possible MLB lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement runs out and not knowing what changes might happen to the draft.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Satisfy your cravings without breaking your diet.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
8 Apr. 2026
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Democrats and Republicans in the Minnesota House on Tuesday filed dueling ethics complaints against members of the opposite party, accusing them of breaking the chamber's rules for conduct.—
Caroline Cummings,
CBS News,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Hard sci-fi, meanwhile, leans into the fact that life evolving on other planets, under different conditions, and across different stretches of time will almost certainly take on forms so different from ours that comprehending them would be like imagining a new color.—
Tim Brinkhof,
Big Think,
24 Mar. 2026
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As for whether comprehending the wiring of the brain really demands techniques from the frontiers of theoretical physics, questions remain.—
Lee Billings,
Scientific American,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deciphering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deciphering. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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