as in to overcome
to achieve a victory over
they defeated their archrivals easily and moved into the next round of the play-offs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in loss
failure to win a contest
sore losers still griping about their defeat in the basketball game earlier that week
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in collapse
a falling short of one's goals
truly disheartened by the defeat of his plans to revitalize downtown
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of defeat
Glen Levy, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
In 1856, Costa Ricans defeat Walker, but cholera devastates the land.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 19 June 2025
David Remnick, New Yorker, 22 June 2025
Despite the defeat, the team returned home heroes and refocused ahead of the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
—Ben Church, CNN Money, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for defeat
Verb
The stunner ended up not just being the match winner but resulted in the first time a team from the CONCACAF region has defeated a European side in a competitive fixture.
—Glen Levy, CNN Money, 20 June 2025
In 1856, Costa Ricans defeat Walker, but cholera devastates the land.
—Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 19 June 2025
Noun
In 1916, as First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill led the Entente powers of the First World War in a crushing defeat on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 22 June 2025
Despite the defeat, the team returned home heroes and refocused ahead of the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
—Ben Church, CNN Money, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for defeat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeat
Verb
-
Advertisement Indiana tried its best to overcome heartbreak in Game 7: Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ star point guard who was playing with a calf strain in his right leg, suffered an achilles injury in the first quarter.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
23 June 2025
-
The Thunder overcame two Game 7s en route to the title, and they will now forever be called champions.—
Matt Levine,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Gauff, by contrast, was 20-3 at that stage, including a loss to Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon in 2023.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
1 July 2025
-
Businesses unknowingly employ these fictitious vendors, incurring massive financial losses and data breaches.—
Steve Durbin,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Noun
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But stablecoins faced a gut-wrenching test in 2022 with the collapse of TerraUSD (UST), a stablecoin designed to maintain its peg through complex incentives rather than being backed by US dollar reserves.—
Steven Dudash,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
The collapse of the firm’s TerraUSD and Luna wiped out around $40 billion in investments and caused wider losses in the global crypto market estimated at more than $400 billion.—
AFP,
Fortune,
30 June 2025
Verb
-
At the same time, niche and local players who master efficiency and identity—like Dragonfly and Goodlyfe—can still carve out major wins.—
Javier Hasse,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
-
Stylish outfit equations have never been easier to master.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
25 June 2025
Noun
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Weger was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the fatal beating of Lillian Oetting, 50, in March 1960 at the scenic park near Utica.—
Christy Gutowski,
Chicago Tribune,
24 June 2025
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But the movie’s focus isn’t so much the zeitgeist that yields these public beatings, but rather, the strange and amusing way that a young woman present in the crowd, Maitri (Singh), uses this violence to her advantage in a moment of snap judgement.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
Extreme heat can cause wiring insulation to deteriorate faster, leading to shorts or failures in electrical components.—
Bethany Wales,
Sacbee.com,
30 June 2025
-
Both sets of parents would have surely been willing to help with rent and whatever else was needed for the baby’s well-being, but the couple agreed that asking them for money at this age constituted a failure too great to stomach.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 June 2025
Verb
-
In the semis, Parenteau turned back the clock and played a solid game to beat Buckner and return to the final for the first time in nearly a year.—
Todd Boss,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
-
Almost daily, the news has stories and videos of people being robbed or beaten in Baltimore, shot and killed, or simply being harassed.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Senate Republicans hit a major setback in their race to pass a massive tax and spending package on Thursday, as a chamber official ruled against a key provision to get the conference on board to vote for the plan by week's end.—
Claudia Grisales,
NPR,
26 June 2025
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For now, however, even with setbacks in his bullpen sessions, the Guardians do expect Bieber to pitch this season.—
Bernie Pleskoff,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Defeat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeat. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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