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
Fred Katz, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
The only defeats the Raiders have this year were at the prestigious Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas just before Christmas, the second out-of-state trip the team took in December following a weekend jaunt to Arizona for a couple of games earlier in the month.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2026
South Carroll defeats Rising Sun in the Class 1A final during the 2026 MPSSAA Dual Wrestling State Championships at North Point High School on Saturday, Feb 14.
—Brian T. Krista, Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2026
Gold Coast League co-champions Brentwood and Crossroads have already met twice and could meet a third time in the second round of the Division 1 playoffs if Brentwood defeats Fairmont Prep and Crossroads defeats Long Beach Poly.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
And that defeats the entire purpose of the change.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
If New England defeats Buffalo on Sunday, the Patriots will clinch the AFC East title for the first time since 2019.
—CBS News, 8 Dec. 2025
If that happens and San Diego State defeats New Mexico, Boise State would play at SDSU in the title game, with the winner heading to the LA Bowl.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 26 Nov. 2025
If Michigan defeats the Buckeyes and either Indiana or Oregon loses, Moore's team would be in the Big Ten title game.
—Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025
ABC News, 7 Mar. 2026
North Crowley advances to a state semifinal for the first time since winning the Class 5A state title in 2008, picked up its 16th consecutive win and beat Allen in the playoffs for the first time after three previous defeats.
—Rick Kretzschmar, Dallas Morning News, 6 Mar. 2026
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points and Andrew Nembhard had 17 for the Pacers, who have lost eight straight since the All-Star break, including five consecutive blowout defeats.
—CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026
Three of the defeats have come either in overtime or in a shootout.
—Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
Regis Le Bris brought his team to West Yorkshire with three defeats in their last four games, two wins in their last 12 and no wins in nine away league games.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026
The Kansas Court of Appeals handed CoreCivic its latest in a string of legal defeats, rejecting the private prison company’s argument that it should be allowed to reopen its Leavenworth facility as an immigrant detention center before securing a local zoning permit.
—Matthew Kelly
february 27, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026
An used his cover as a Time magazine reporter for espionage seminal to a succession of US defeats during the Vietnam War.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Loons lost 2-1 as part of four straight defeats to begin the year.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 26 Feb. 2026
Verb
Learning from losing Anthony Edwards is stealing the superpowers of whoever defeats him.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
The only defeats the Raiders have this year were at the prestigious Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas just before Christmas, the second out-of-state trip the team took in December following a weekend jaunt to Arizona for a couple of games earlier in the month.
—Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2026
South Carroll defeats Rising Sun in the Class 1A final during the 2026 MPSSAA Dual Wrestling State Championships at North Point High School on Saturday, Feb 14.
—Brian T. Krista, Baltimore Sun, 14 Feb. 2026
Gold Coast League co-champions Brentwood and Crossroads have already met twice and could meet a third time in the second round of the Division 1 playoffs if Brentwood defeats Fairmont Prep and Crossroads defeats Long Beach Poly.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
And that defeats the entire purpose of the change.
—Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
If New England defeats Buffalo on Sunday, the Patriots will clinch the AFC East title for the first time since 2019.
—CBS News, 8 Dec. 2025
If that happens and San Diego State defeats New Mexico, Boise State would play at SDSU in the title game, with the winner heading to the LA Bowl.
—Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 26 Nov. 2025
If Michigan defeats the Buckeyes and either Indiana or Oregon loses, Moore's team would be in the Big Ten title game.
—Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025
Noun
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points and Andrew Nembhard had 17 for the Pacers, who have lost eight straight since the All-Star break, including five consecutive blowout defeats.
—ABC News, 7 Mar. 2026
North Crowley advances to a state semifinal for the first time since winning the Class 5A state title in 2008, picked up its 16th consecutive win and beat Allen in the playoffs for the first time after three previous defeats.
—Rick Kretzschmar, Dallas Morning News, 6 Mar. 2026
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points and Andrew Nembhard had 17 for the Pacers, who have lost eight straight since the All-Star break, including five consecutive blowout defeats.
—CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026
Three of the defeats have come either in overtime or in a shootout.
—Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2026
Regis Le Bris brought his team to West Yorkshire with three defeats in their last four games, two wins in their last 12 and no wins in nine away league games.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026
The Kansas Court of Appeals handed CoreCivic its latest in a string of legal defeats, rejecting the private prison company’s argument that it should be allowed to reopen its Leavenworth facility as an immigrant detention center before securing a local zoning permit.
—Matthew Kelly
february 27, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026
An used his cover as a Time magazine reporter for espionage seminal to a succession of US defeats during the Vietnam War.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
Loons lost 2-1 as part of four straight defeats to begin the year.
—Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 26 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defeats
Verb
-
LithSonic overcomes this challenge by using supersonic flow, similar to the conditions inside a rocket engine, to achieve ultra-rapid cooling through a process known as shock quenching.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
-
After a sluggish start, Texas overcomes a 14-point deficit to tie the game before OU's Xzayvier Brown hits a 3-pointer to give his team the halftime lead.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While critics emphasize job losses, some analysts maintain that the broader economy has not yet entered recession territory, with forecasters continuing to project positive—though slower—GDP growth rather than contraction.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Leading the losses was South Korea’s benchmark Kospi, which closed down almost 6%.—
Yarden Segev,
NBC news,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Ownership struggles, wars, economic collapses, and the ever-evolving tribulations of the automotive business brought constant change.—
James Raia,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
-
But the secondary was an issue for the Rams throughout the last three seasons, and especially in 2025 as breakdowns led to several regular-season collapses and the NFC championship game loss to Seattle.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
From basic fraud claims and partnership disputes to the more esoteric involving combustion turbines, citrus canker or automobile line recalls or land use development issues, Waldman masters the material and, time and again, has delivered big-time results for his clients.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Stylist Chrissy Rasmussen masters the layered medium-length look on clients.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
20 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
So too is a work ethic peers often describe as relentless, paired with a preternatural optimism that keeps him pushing through setbacks.—
Douglas Robson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
-
There was no shortage of setbacks for stocks last week.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The aircraft, which has only 18 moving parts, is full of redundancy to prevent system failures.—
The Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Supervision failures at the jail and deaths that followed those failures have led to a pile of lawsuits.—
Ryan Oehrli
March 4,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
When the sun sinks below the horizon, nothing beats the retro pleasure of a movie under the twinkling stars.—
Zoey Goto,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
-
However, Hostwinds beats HostArmada by offering Linux and Windows server OS options, giving you more flexibility.—
Gabriel Zamora,
PC Magazine,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Stories of the violence committed under Burge — including beatings, electric shock, suffocation with typewriter covers and games of Russian roulette — proved to have a long reach.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
-
We are threatened with beatings and gunfire.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defeats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defeats. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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