Synonyms of essays

essays 1 of 2

noun

plural of essay

1

as in articles

a short piece of writing typically expressing a point of view

school essays on what it means to be a patriot

Synonyms & Similar Words

• articles
• papers
• themes
• dissertations
• editorials
• treatises
• commentaries
• compositions
• columns
• reports
• features
• studies
• theses
• write-ups
• reviews
• discourses
• discussions
• tracts
• causeries
• prolegomena
• expositions

2

as in attempts

an effort to do or accomplish something

my first essay at baking a cake did not go well

Synonyms & Similar Words

• attempts
• tries
• goes
• endeavors
• stabs
• bids
• assays
• shots
• offers
• trials
• passes
• undertakings
• flings
• strivings
• cracks
• struggles
• bashes
• whacks
• whirls
• throes
• trial and errors

3

as in tests

a procedure or operation carried out to resolve an uncertainty

a little homemade essay to determine the easiest way to strip the paint from the bookcase

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tests
• experiments
• experimentations
• trials
• efforts
• tries
• exercises
• practices
• attempts
• rehearsals
• ordeals
• workouts
• tryouts
• crucibles
• trial and errors
• dry runs
• shakedowns

essays

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of essay

as in tries

to make an effort to do

he had been in gymnastics for some time before he even considered essaying that move

Synonyms & Similar Words

• attempts
• tries
• strives
• endeavors
• assays
• seeks
• has a go at
• shoots at
• works
• struggles
• hopes
• troubles
• tries one's hand (at)
• toils
• aims
• fights
• undertakes
• strains
• aspires
• takes up
• assumes

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• drops
• gives up
• quits

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of essays

Noun

Odette Estate is named in homage to characters from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and essays by Proust because the moniker represents grace and triumph. — Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 17 July 2026

Included in the set is a 96-page book with photos, new essays by Lemieux and Nicholas Meriwether, executive director of the Grateful Dead Studies Association, and artwork by multidisciplinary artist Marcos Alvarado. — Mike Snider, USA Today, 15 July 2026

The 400-plus-page collection of poetry, fiction and essays by the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and others was curated by philosopher and scholar Alain LeRoy Locke. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026

Employing a hybrid form that weaves together poetry, essays, and more diaristic entries, Makdisi fashions a narrative of life amid those fifteen years of violence that is at once intimate and expansive. — Literary Hub, 14 July 2026

In these essays, our columnists follow their curiosity, and explore important but not necessarily answerable scientific questions. — Quanta Magazine, 13 July 2026

Artificial intelligence has complicated the reliability of admissions essays. — Scott White, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026

Woolf composed her great modernist novels and her brilliant essays while troubled by suicidal thoughts and the tumult of two world wars. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 1 July 2026

The couple published the journal’s first issue in July 1976, which included notes from the editors, essays and poems. — Laura Horne, Charlotte Observer, 30 June 2026

Verb

In the film, Bajpayee plays the police officer while Jim Sarbh essays the role of the killer who goes by the fictional name Carl Bhojraj. — Sweta Kaushal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025