ensconced

verb

past tense of ensconce
1
as in nestled
to establish or place comfortably or snugly the kids had contentedly ensconced themselves on the couch before the TV happily ensconced in her new home

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in buried
to put into a hiding place ensconced the spare house key in a place where no intruder would think to look

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 ensconced By midmorning, Helen, ensconced on a couch in front of the portrait of Andrew, flipped open a laptop and waited. — Ron Farina, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2026 To be ensconced within a reading cohort is bliss, and falling off the cart can be demoralizing. — Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026 Andrew Schulz is a shock comedian firmly ensconced in the Joe Rogan and Kill Tony universes, while Eric Andre is an Adult Swim legend beloved on the opposite side of the alternative comedy spectrum. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2026 With some 2,000 tomes ensconced in the Library, passengers can spend hours in a cozy corner. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026 At Pace, some are ensconced in the walls or cantilevered à la Donald Judd, while others stand atop steel bases. — Grace Edquist, Vogue, 22 Sep. 2026 Barbara Hutton, née Woolworth and heiress to the Woolworth fortune, is still ensconced in her first-floor suite, packing and unpacking, unsure whether to stay or to go. — Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026 Neither of them lives full-time in New York anymore; Kessler spends much of his time in Barcelona, and Banks is pleasantly ensconced in Berlin with his wife and two young children. — Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 2 Sep. 2026 To make potty training less stressful for everyone, choose a time when your little one is safely ensconced in the steady rhythm of routine and you’re relaxed and able to devote your attention to the task at hand. — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ensconced
  1. nestled
  2. buried
  3. lodged
  4. concealed
  5. perched
  6. positioned
  7. settled
Verb
  • Their best chance to win the game came with the football nestled inside the 5-yard line for four tries, with three of those tries from the 1.
    — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The Animal Protection headquarters were right downtown, only a couple of blocks from their building, nestled innocuously beside a Western-wear shop on whose roof a massive neon boot rotated slowly against the dark.
    — Téa Obreht, New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of nestled
Verb
  • Auwaerter, who was not part of the study, said the data didn't distinguish consumption from external exposure -- in other words, the hair could have picked up traces of weed simply by being buried together with it.
    — Mary Evans, Arkansas Online, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Oleksander Haiovyi, 20, looks at his car buried in dirt and debris after a strike on a residential area in Kyiv, on Saturday, Nov 7, 2026.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of buried
Verb
  • Kalshi can’t get orders blocking state gambling laws Arkansas filed its lawsuit about a week after Utah Attorney General Derek Brown lodged criminal charges against Kalshi and its founders for violating Utah’s ban on gambling.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Countess Ingeborg Kálnoky ran the guest house where witnesses summoned to Nuremberg were lodged, which meant that victims of Nazism and perpetrators of it slept in adjacent bedrooms, passed one another on the stairs and took meals at the same table.
    — Natalie Livingstone, Sun Sentinel, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of lodged
Verb
  • The Andes, which usually loom imposingly over the skyline, are concealed behind thick clouds, and the Mapocho River, which cuts through the city like an artery, is close to bursting its banks.
    — Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Since the arrest, detectives also found a second, stationary camera concealed inside a Taco Bell Cantina near where the arrest took place.
    — Breaking News, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of concealed
Verb
  • All this gear is scattered on tabletops perched on the mountainside.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Outside, there’s an elderly woman perched on her snowmobile, smoking a cigarette, who loudly hassles Siaja for a little charity.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of perched
Verb
  • The laptop sits in the center of it, while the additional displays can be positioned above and to either side.
    — Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The brokerage said South Korea could emerge as a key market for additional capacity in Asia, with operators that secure power, land and long-term customer contracts better positioned to expand.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of positioned
Verb
  • When Roddenberry wanted a character who might draw younger viewers to Star Trek, the physical resemblance to the Monkees singer settled the matter.
    — Daniel Ross Goodman, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Earlier this month, Minnesota Vikings fans who’d settled in for the team’s matchup with the Miami Dolphins were surprised to see a Paxton ad show up during one of the in-game breaks.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of settled

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Cite this Entry

“Ensconced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ensconced. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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