DRIVES Synonyms: 344 Similar and Opposite Words

drives 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of drive

as in runs

to urge, push, or force onward cowboys drove the herd of cattle from San Antonio to San Francisco

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Relevance

as in motors

to travel by a motorized vehicle I'm going to drive across the country—want to come?

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as in pushes

to apply force to (someone or something) so that it moves in front of one drove the plunger into the opening

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as in compels

to cause (a person) to give in to pressure the corrupt governor was driven out of office

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in activates

to cause to function machinery driven by waterpower

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as in moves

to set or keep in motion this motor drives the gears, which then turn the shaft

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as in speeds

to proceed or move quickly the runner drove past the finish line and then came to a dead stop

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drives

2 of 2

noun

plural of drive

as in highways

a passage cleared for public vehicular travel raced our motorcycles along the drive

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as in campaigns

a series of activities undertaken to achieve a goal a fund-raising drive for the school's marching band

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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 drives

Verb

Their fundamentalist, literal understanding of the Bible is one that drives them to take bigger, bolder actions to affirm their belief that the United States is a Christian nation. — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 18 July 2026 Intentional planning drives better long-term outcomes than an approach prioritizing speed. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 To meet energy demand for the grid, the flywheel drives a generator that converts its rotational motion into electricity. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 17 July 2026 When Fumi takes a job at Rin’s clinic planning to expose its darker side, their standoff drives the series, with the story more interested in what pushes people toward transformation than in the surgeries themselves. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 July 2026 What drives her attempt to use female solidarity as a way to ingratiate herself with Priscilla, a woman who is seemingly her enemy? — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 15 July 2026 Physicists refer to this process as collapse, but scientists have not yet solved the fundamental enigma that drives this phenomenon. — Aldo Romero, The Conversation, 15 July 2026 There is little reason to believe that a careful weighing of risk and benefit really drives interest in Colossal’s de-extinction efforts. — Taylor Dotson, Scientific American, 10 July 2026 During his winter drives up Interstate 80 toward Lake Tahoe, Sean Bigley keeps his eyes peeled. — Corey Schmidt july 10, Sacbee.com, 10 July 2026

Noun

The Federalist Papers include proposals for institutional solutions that sought to redirect the destructive drives of individuals toward positive social ends. — Donovan Fifield, The Conversation, 16 July 2026 Extreme rainfall events like this are becoming more common as planet-warming pollution drives temperatures higher, because warmer air holds more moisture – which storms can then wring out like a water-laden sponge in heavy, localized downpours. — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 15 July 2026 In one instance, there was a 488% increase in applications for test drives on the day of the stream, Moutran told Semafor. — Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 15 July 2026 The data collected during game drives offers a deeper understanding of their movements, supporting vital research that helps protect the elephants, key migration corridors, and their coexistence with local communities. — Rebekah Peppler, Travel + Leisure, 14 July 2026 Going three-for-10 from the field with nine points and multiple out-of-control drives to the rim, Thiero did not look like the returning NBA player on the Lakers’ summer league roster. — Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 That’s not bad for many situations, and NAND is widely used in high-performance long-term storage, such as solid state drives. — IEEE Spectrum, 14 July 2026 Mitchell has adjusted his offseason workouts to prepare for those open catch-and-shoot opportunities created by Antetokounmpo’s drives to the basket. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 10 July 2026 When Gilla Band hit the road, their front-of-house guy drives, Fox also engineers, Kiely sells merch, and Faulkner runs tech. — Laura Snapes, Pitchfork, 9 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for drives

Verb

Fraser Millward is familiar with both venues, having left a 20-year career in London’s theater and live events industry in 2021 to join the organization that runs Aviva, Factory International, as a technician.

— Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
The book instead focuses on Penelope’s diplomatic genius, along with her loyal women who form a network of spies for her along with a secret militia that quietly runs the island from the shadows for two decades while their men are away at war.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 July 2026

Definition of runs

Verb

Which hasn’t entirely stopped Klaveness from speaking out as Infantino pushes the boundaries of his power.

— Tom Kludt, Vanity Fair, 17 July 2026
Daera pushes the conversation beyond recycled content as a singular solution toward a more complete circular product development.

— Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 17 July 2026

Definition of pushes

Verb

The piece is over before the mental picture really develops, which only compels me to start it over again.

— Jayson Greene, Pitchfork, 14 July 2026
Further, since a charging order compels an LLC to re-direct distribution payments to the creditor, the appeals court further mused that such was enough to create standing since the LLCs needed to know who to pay.

— Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Definition of compels

Verb

The emergency declaration activates the state agriculture department’s relief resources to help farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses recover.

— Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 16 July 2026
Argentina fans, meanwhile, are unique in all sports—other countries have fan bases that get loud, but a stadium full of Argentineans activates something primordial.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 16 July 2026

Definition of activates

Verb

Instead of using a remote or control panel, the player moves into position and signals with a simple hand gesture for the ball, and the AI biometrics locate and pinpoint the player position.

— Shirl Leigh July 13, New Atlas, 13 July 2026
This recent flight, announced this week, confirmed the drone’s flight controls and performance as the program moves closer to carrier use.

— Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026

Definition of moves

Verb

For example, in tenant onboarding, using AI to automatically auto-fill and email a 50-page PDF lease just speeds up the generation of a static, cumbersome document that still requires manual follow-ups.

— Ali Hoss, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Frequent mowing keeps clippings small, preventing smothering and speeds up decomposition for reuse.

— Peg Aloi, The Spruce, 21 June 2026

Definition of speeds

Noun

The colossal billboards by the side of highways advertising legal representation.

— Nick Miller, New York Times, 18 July 2026
Flash flooding of small creeks, streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses, as well as areas with poor drainage and low-lying areas, was possible.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 16 July 2026