DELIBERATED Synonyms: 56 Similar and Opposite Words

deliberated

verb

past tense of deliberate

as in pondered

to give serious and careful thought to the jury deliberated the case for three days before returning a verdict

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of deliberated The jury deliberated for fewer than two hours before returning the guilty verdicts in March. — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 30 July 2026 Jurors at his 2025 murder trial deliberated for weeks before acquitting him on one murder count and failing to reach a verdict on another murder count. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 21 July 2026 The jury deliberated for about six hours on Monday and eight hours on Tuesday before the mistrial was declared. — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 July 2026 Difficulty reaching a unanimous verdict The jurors deliberated for nearly three days before arriving at their decision. — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 30 June 2026 The jury deliberated for more than an hour. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 23 June 2026 The seven-person jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before finding Banken and several of his companies civilly liable for violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act. — Andy Mannix, ProPublica, 23 June 2026 Jurors deliberated for three days before reaching the partial verdict. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 12 June 2026 The jury deliberated for less than six hours over the course of two days, from March 25 to March 26, 2025, in Rice's case. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 4 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deliberated

Verb

In a July 2025 text chain, an agent pondered whether facial recognition tools could be used to identify people on TikTok who admitted to being in the country illegally.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
In a July interview with Rolling Stone, Foreman pondered why his story went viral.

— Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2026

Definition of pondered

Verb

According to the blunt John Adams, the American Revolution began before the war with Britain, in the people’s minds and hearts, and Arendt situated those shifts in American town councils where citizens had debated local affairs.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
The research on this topic is extensive and widely debated, but a 2026 study has re-modelled a global individualism-collectivism scale to measure where each country falls.

— Mark Carey, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of debated

Verb

But the revolt imperiled Infantino, as Europe contemplated replacing him with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a hugely influential figure in European club soccer.

— Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 30 July 2026
Then, as Bowman contemplated his future throughout the season, vacillating between retiring at the end of this season or next, the notion that Zilisch could replace him picked up steady traction through the summer.

— Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 23 July 2026

Definition of contemplated

Verb

Bridges first emerged on the stand-up circuit in 2004, shortly after his 17th birthday, and has since entertained more than two million fans worldwide across a succession of record-breaking arena tours.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2026
But that’s coming from the perspective of someone who needs more than just Mustache Ride references to be entertained, which is not this movie’s target audience.

— Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of entertained

Verb

González also studied the poetry of June Jordan, who called for the creation of more green space in Harlem.

— Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Unfortunately, a recent review of common interventions employed to reduce compassion fatigue revealed that most interventions haven’t been adequately studied.

— Doreen Samelson, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of studied

Verb

Beyond the audience reaction in Sundance, Wilde questioned the fact that comedy as a genre had come disconnected from cinema audiences.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 8 Aug. 2026
Councilman Dean Vakas initially questioned how units sold near market value fit within the definition of missing middle.

— Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of questioned

Verb

Crude prices rose on the development, and Asia markets traded mixed as investors weighed the latest twist in one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026
The costs and benefits of each data-center location to the developer and to the community should always be weighed and made publicly available.

— Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of weighed

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“Deliberated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deliberated. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of deliberated

verb

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