described

verb

past tense of describe
1
as in depicted
to give a representation or account of in words he tried to describe the dream he had last night as accurately as he could

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chronicled
to give an oral or written account of in some detail a biography of Washington that describes the decisive Battle of Yorktown at great length

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in characterized
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group how would you describe the Inupiat people you encountered in Alaska?

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Example Sentences

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 described Solar eclipse watchers have for centuries vividly described an eerie phenomenon known as shadow bands that appears just before and after totality — the period when the moon completely blocks the sun’s light and the sky goes dark. — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026 Officials said the gun, described as small and compact, was legally registered to the boy’s grandfather. — ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026 Schmidhuber described artificial curiosity as similar to how children learn. — Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026 Emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, 47, described arriving as the shooting was ongoing and his team treated students with injuries in the back, chest and arms. — Chalinee Thirasupa, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026 Young, 80, has described the project as deeply personal from the outset. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 7 Aug. 2026 According to company lore, Edoardo Fendi often described his wife as bustling and busy as a squirrel. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026 Last spring, an unnamed company described only as a major artificial intelligence firm came looking for a piece of it, according to WKRC Local 12. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026 The duties of the position were described by athletic director Travis Goff in an article published Thursday by The Star. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 1 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for described
  1. depicted
  2. chronicled
  3. characterized
  4. portrayed
  5. recounted
  6. defined
  7. illustrated
  8. told
Verb
  • In Roman art, invidia is sometimes depicted as a gaunt Medusa-like figure with serpents for hair.
    — Jan Tumlir, Artforum, 5 Aug. 2026
  • For the cover of the August 10, 2026, issue, the painter and graphic novelist Eric Drooker depicted the Guggenheim Museum as a cool clearing in a forest.
    — Françoise Mouly, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of depicted
Verb
  • According to a dispute with a neighbor chronicled in court documents, Adelkoff and her then-husband acquired the home in 2002.
    — Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
  • An article in the Washington Post chronicled how police officers were caught abusing surveillance technology to stalk ex-wives and, in at least one case, an actress a police officer wanted to meet.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of chronicled
Verb
  • This growing phenomenon—what workplace experts describe as pre-work overwhelm—is characterized by anxiety, mental clutter and emotional fatigue that builds before the workday has even begun.
    — Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • One theater site called OnStageBlog reported that Segers had previously posted what commenters characterized as anti-transgender videos and was critical of pronoun usage choice.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of characterized
Verb
  • Tiffany, who had 10-times more cash on hand than either Hong or Crowley did entering August, has portrayed the race as a contest between chaos and common sense.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • And like any awkward teenager, his style was portrayed as a bit chaotic and confusing throughout the film—as per Karmin’s plan.
    — Dylan Muñoz, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of portrayed
Verb
  • Others recounted people falling sick, being beaten by the rain, and told to hide whenever Nigerian military helicopters flew over the forest hideouts where the captors held them.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The newspaper also recounted how Kim pressed on through steep mountain terrain and a torrential downpour during a 2018 trip to find a suitable site for a hot-spring resort.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of recounted
Verb
  • Increasingly, loyalty is being defined by the entire trip—not simply the hotel stay.
    — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • If his startup years were defined by pitch decks and investor updates, Philips’ life now is defined by alarms and factory floors.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of defined
Verb
  • The series consists of seven books written and illustrated by the Reys from 1941 to 1966, as well as later additions, not by the Reys, commissioned by the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the 1990s.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Democrats are facing a dilemma and Michigan’s Senate primary perfectly illustrated it.
    — Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of illustrated
Verb
  • Senior local official Dagnachew Azbite told the BBC that seven people had been found injured, with five of the victims sustaining serious injuries.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Secret Service Director Sean Curran told reporters that the agency had more than 10,000 investigations into threats against people the agency has been assigned to protect.
    — Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of told

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describe
described
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Cite this Entry

“Described.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/described. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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