as in overcomes
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 losses
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 collapses
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
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Recent Examples of defeats
Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 9 May 2026
Over-spraying leads to streaks, which defeats the entire purpose.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
On the back of four Premier League defeats in a row and a squad pockmarked by injuries, some kind of change was required.
—Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2026
Al Gore defeats George W Bush to become the 42nd President of the United States.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Birdville bounces back, defeats Grapevine Birdville lost 8-2 to District 6-5A frontrunner Richland on Tuesday.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2026
Behind standout efforts from Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez, the UCLA women’s basketball team defeats South Carolina for the NCAA national championship.
—Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2026
Cleaning with dirty tools defeats the purpose.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
The 49ers have gone to the playoffs in five of the past seven seasons, winning at least one game in each postseason trip, with four NFC Championship Game appearances and Super Bowl defeats in the 2019 and ’23 seasons.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 7 May 2026
Jake LaRavia, who played in all 82 games for the Lakers during the regular season, simply digressed when asked what the Lakers could have learned from the quartet of defeats.
—Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 3 May 2026
Lula is yet to make public comments about his defeats in Congress.
—ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
This time, though, he's already somewhat sidelined by the introduction of Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), and then he's stunningly killed during a fight with Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), who defeats him and crushes his head.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 9 May 2026
Over-spraying leads to streaks, which defeats the entire purpose.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 27 Apr. 2026
On the back of four Premier League defeats in a row and a squad pockmarked by injuries, some kind of change was required.
—Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2026
Al Gore defeats George W Bush to become the 42nd President of the United States.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 Apr. 2026
Birdville bounces back, defeats Grapevine Birdville lost 8-2 to District 6-5A frontrunner Richland on Tuesday.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2026
Behind standout efforts from Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez, the UCLA women’s basketball team defeats South Carolina for the NCAA national championship.
—Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2026
Cleaning with dirty tools defeats the purpose.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2026
The 49ers have gone to the playoffs in five of the past seven seasons, winning at least one game in each postseason trip, with four NFC Championship Game appearances and Super Bowl defeats in the 2019 and ’23 seasons.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
Noun
All season long, the Wolves have relied on their resilience to bounce back from embarrassing defeats.
—Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 7 May 2026
Jake LaRavia, who played in all 82 games for the Lakers during the regular season, simply digressed when asked what the Lakers could have learned from the quartet of defeats.
—Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 3 May 2026
Lula is yet to make public comments about his defeats in Congress.
—ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeats
Verb
-
This proprietary approach overcomes challenges of surface treatment and dispersion associated with the material.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Leo consistently overcomes challenges such as low light, rapid movement, and split second moments to produce sharp, compelling images.—
Heide Janssen,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
America’s chronic inability to get enough sleep comes with a real cost attached, one that researchers have put in the hundreds of billions of dollars in annual economic losses.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
4 May 2026
-
Due to impacts from federal government cuts to Medi-Cal, the Board of Supervisors put a measure on the June 2 ballot, a half-cent sales tax to raise about $1 billion to stop-gap financial losses and keep hospitals and clinics functioning.—
Steve Scauzillo,
Daily News,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
As the sun's core collapses, its outer layers, where nuclear fusion is still occurring, will puff out to around 100 times the original width of the sun — maybe more.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Marin stuck to her plan of staying close until a moment that changed everything with shocking swiftness — her changing her mind and going for the green on the par-5 13th for a go-ahead birdie, and Talley adding to the sad history of collapses on the back nine at the home of the Masters.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Levy masters one hilarious perplexed comedic reaction after another as Nicky, a closeted pastor with a zany, highly dysfunctional family.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The future belongs to the developer who masters the ability to break down human expertise into reusable agent skills.—
Mohith Shrivastava,
Fortune,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Markets have soared and oil prices have dropped over the last week, however, amid anticipation that a deal could be close after weeks of talks and occasional setbacks.—
Peter Nicholas,
NBC news,
10 May 2026
-
Following the local election setbacks, the Prime Minister has faced calls to resign or to set a timetable to vacate his leadership position, including from members of his own Labour Party.—
Chandelis Duster,
NPR,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Many failures can be offset by a single success, which means this form of investing is likely to result in major innovation.—
Anis Uzzaman,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
-
But that Panarin trade doesn’t erase the team’s missteps to that point, like the decision to run it back with Jim Hiller despite last postseason’s failures.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
New York quite like this tune (though there is one a little later on the list that beats this puppy in that category).—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
9 May 2026
-
Nothing beats a weekend getaway to a small town.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
The offseason of Mark Pope's discontent soldiers on, and the beatings will continue until talent acquisition improves.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
-
Incidents, many caught on video, include shootings, beatings, arson, land destruction, livestock theft and intimidation.—
Molly Hunter,
NBC news,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defeats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeats. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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