DROSS Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

dross

noun

ˈdräs

Definition of dross

as in garbage

discarded or useless material get rid of the dross before closing up the shop

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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 dross And we are asked to make the leap ourselves—men were also sacrificed as dross. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026 The downside of all of these riches is the dross accompanying the gold. — Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 27 Feb. 2026 What tabloid dross tends to obscure is his impressive career—first as a star dancer at the New York City Ballet, then as a roving choreographer of complex, dynamic work that is rooted in balletic conventions but not restricted by them. — Sara Krolewski, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026 These meteors are the dross shed by the comet 169P/NEAT, whose path Earth crosses at this time each year. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 16 July 2025 Amongst all the dross and angst, Neil and Teddy try to talk everyone into investing in a baseball-card trading venture that might generate $500 in profits after a year. — Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025 But among the dross there gleam a few brilliant exceptions—deceptive, slippery books that defy the constraints of region and genre. — Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025 The chipmaker is still raising cash and cutting costs though, as there seems to be quite a bit of dross. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2025 Many experience mental health challenges on top of the physical toll of making something out of the unending dross Kantamanto is pummeled with. — Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dross

Noun

Remove food that attracts wild animals by keeping garbage in closed, secure containers.

— Gagandeep Singh, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2026
The only people who spoke up for this garbage were the people who put it together.

— Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2026

Definition of garbage

Noun

Mercury's rough surface, continually reshaped by debris hurled from impact craters, may have hidden the true extent of the loss, according to the researchers whose findings appear in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
This comes after a partial glacier collapse in the Himalayan mountains unleashed a sudden surge of water, mud, and debris that swept through border crossings, valley communities, and hydropower projects on August 26.

— Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of debris

Noun

This comes at the expense of no movement in the wrist, but to be fair, having the lightsaber pointed in any other direction would look rubbish.

— Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Only construction waste will be accepted at the landfill such as, brush and rubbish, concrete, brick, rock, wood, paper, plastics, cardboard and roofing shingles and tiles.

— Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026

Definition of rubbish

Noun

It will then be loaded up with trash and sent down to a fiery death in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

— Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2026
These community governance groups rely on owner dues and assessments to cover shared amenities, like pools, trash collection, and lawn maintenance.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of trash

Noun

Astroscale’s business is focused on satellite servicing and mitigation of space junk, a segment of the market that matches well with rockets the size of Isar’s Spectrum for dedicated rides to orbit.

— Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
The three scoured data collected by the Chandra space telescope between 1999 and 2017 and painstakingly filtered out any random artifacts and other junk.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of junk

Noun

Questions remain about how many people developed health problems linked to the dust.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Sep. 2026
At the Great Omari Mosque, volunteers use paintbrushes to lift dust and gunpowder from the few thousand books that survived from a collection of twenty thousand.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of dust

Browse Nearby Words

droshky

dross

drought

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“Dross.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dross. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of dross

noun

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