as in conversation
talking or a talk between two or more people
Thomas Jefferson is said to have been able to participate in knowledgeable discourse on a breathtaking array of subjects
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in to lecture
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
the guest lecturer discoursed at some length on the long-term results of the war
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to speak
to talk as if giving an important and formal speech
grandly discoursed as though he were an expert on every subject
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 discourse
Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2026
By applying legal methodologies to digital discourse, citizens can better distinguish facts from divisive slogans and propaganda.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 Apr. 2026
Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2025
Admissions officers want to see that students will contribute meaningfully to discourse on campus.
—Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for discourse
Noun
The film, backed (with no apparent irony) by the company of a previous ineffable tech character, arrives in theaters later this year and will supply Altman with the tech mogul’s must-have 21st century accessory of a fleeting film festival discourse.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2026
By applying legal methodologies to digital discourse, citizens can better distinguish facts from divisive slogans and propaganda.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 Apr. 2026
Verb
The cycle can become so accidentally ubiquitous that the former kids who blissfully existed outside of whatever discourses these trends or bands started in their heyday wonder now, as adults, what was so bad about them in the first place.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2025
Admissions officers want to see that students will contribute meaningfully to discourse on campus.
—Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for discourse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discourse
Noun
-
Meaningful conversations between my wife and me are thwarted by her unwillingness to engage in rational discussions.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Apr. 2026
-
After that conversation, the Langwell investigators stepped in.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Ratmoko is also a photographer, writer, and scholar who has lectured on intercultural communication schools including Yale University and the University of Zurich.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
-
During orientation, new hires are lectured that Kino wants to protect users from harmful images; meanwhile, their boss, Josh (Jermaine Fowler), would cut out his own spleen on camera to keep people’s eyeballs on the app.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
People who live near where the incident took place spoke to CBS News Miami about what happened.—
Ana Maria Soler,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The two men spoke with disdain for Europe, and Szijjártó agreed to help in removing an Uzbek-Russian oligarch’s sister from a European sanctions list.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Meaningful conversations between my wife and me are thwarted by her unwillingness to engage in rational discussions.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Apr. 2026
-
The negotiators discussed the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei said, but did not mention discussion of nuclear weapons.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Market wobbled, then rallied on signals that Tehran might still want to talk, with investors assessing the blockade as brinkmanship as expectations for a possible deal rise.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Smith said after talking to Gregg, Wheels Up reduced the price to $850, but storage fees for having the car since April 1 bring the grand total to at least $2,600.—
Liz Crawford,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Most presidents have treated it as a chance to note their accomplishments, to harangue Congress into supporting their priorities, and to speak to the American people.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
25 Feb. 2026
-
After haranguing the receptionist, he was eventually granted a 15-minute audience with Fujita, who advised his teenage devotee to focus on future technologies like computers.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Inside this building, generations of artists a century apart converse about similarly distressing and awe-inducing encounters between us and our technological creations.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The two converse as if Janet is a hostage on a permanent Zoom call, always sitting in the same room, in the same clothes, talking to the same nonexistent camera.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
More often, though, Tallent demonstrates his characters’ precarity rather than declaiming about it.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Providence doesn’t give you a Latin teacher for a mother without consequence: Samy declaimed classical locutions with scandalous ease.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Discourse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discourse. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
