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
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2
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
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as in tries
to make an effort to do
he had been in gymnastics for some time before he even considered essaying that move
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of essays
Chris Koseluk, HollywoodReporter, 12 June 2026
Her essays and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New Republic, and more.
—Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
Some of it became Paul Graham essays, which people still cite 20 years later.
—Michelle O'Connor, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
One of the earliest examples emerged in the 16th century, when Venetian nobleman Luigi Cornaro promoted the benefits of a restricted diet in La Vita Sobria (The Art of Living Long), a series of essays describing his personal experiences of cutting certain foods from his diet.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026
More flaglantry detrimental to learning, plenty more use the tech to generate entire essays and solve math problems — or, in a word, cheat.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 10 June 2026
The practical political purpose of the essays was to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.
—Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
Stacy Arp, an Oak Forest Police Department dispatcher who helped gather the applications and essays, said most members of the Oak Forest Police Association voted for the two students.
—Janice Neumann, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026
Sweta Kaushal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
His books also included Laughing Matter — A Treasury of American Humor (1989), a collection of stories, cartoons, essays and scripts featuring Woody Allen, Russell Baker, Gary Trudeau and Garrison Keillor, among others.
—Chris Koseluk, HollywoodReporter, 12 June 2026
Her essays and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New Republic, and more.
—Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
Some of it became Paul Graham essays, which people still cite 20 years later.
—Michelle O'Connor, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
One of the earliest examples emerged in the 16th century, when Venetian nobleman Luigi Cornaro promoted the benefits of a restricted diet in La Vita Sobria (The Art of Living Long), a series of essays describing his personal experiences of cutting certain foods from his diet.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026
More flaglantry detrimental to learning, plenty more use the tech to generate entire essays and solve math problems — or, in a word, cheat.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 10 June 2026
The practical political purpose of the essays was to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.
—Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
Stacy Arp, an Oak Forest Police Department dispatcher who helped gather the applications and essays, said most members of the Oak Forest Police Association voted for the two students.
—Janice Neumann, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for essays
Noun
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Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC news,
17 June 2026
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Siebel Newsom, who has been married to Newsom since 2008 and maintains a higher profile than other state governors’ spouses, has been the subject of several recent articles in right-wing news outlets.—
Haley Parsley,
Sacbee.com,
16 June 2026
Noun
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Tortorella’s other attempts to jump-start the top line, such as moving Mitch Marner and Mark Stone up beside Eichel at different points, didn’t work either.—
Jesse Granger,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
Plum shot three for 10, tied for her fewest attempts in a game this season.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2026
Noun
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In 2022, only seven other countries joined it in voting against a UN First Committee resolution to halt direct-ascent antisatellite missile tests, which produce destructive space debris.—
ELIZABETH ECONOMY,
Foreign Affairs,
9 Dec. 2025
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Interestingly, these differences were not connected to how severe the child’s injury appeared based on tests that health care teams use in the clinic, such as brain scans or evaluations of consciousness.—
Amery Treble-Barna,
The Conversation,
9 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Lastly, as Heather and Meredith’s rift continues to simmer, Mary tries to play peacemaker and encourages Meredith to buy her a necklace as a peace offering.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
10 Dec. 2025
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Anyone who disagrees is intimidated, often too afraid — of confrontation, of rejection, of stigma, of being a minority in the face of an ideology that not only hates difference and diversity but tries to violently destroy its opposition — to speak up at all.—
Abraham Jiménez Enoa,
The Dial,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Does this mean those pop-goes-punk comp albums are coming back?—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
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Except then there’s the chance of being FUNNELED, placed on the rails and headed for a very specific destination, instead of the OPEN-WORLD anything-goes of traditional D&D.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The engineering team pushed the technology to its limits, conducting roughly 1,000 rigorous welding experiments to fine-tune the AI before clearing it for the front lines of manufacturing.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
15 June 2026
-
In experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, physicists smash together beams of protons, breaking them up into all possible elementary bits and pieces.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
Rahma strives for a cinema-verité aesthetic, with footage sometimes shot on vintage digital cameras, but the show’s style can’t overcome the limits of its format.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
10 June 2026
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China is looking to spend nearly $300 billion over the next five years to build more data centers across the country, as Beijing strives to gain ground on the US in the AI race.—
J.D. Capelouto,
semafor.com,
9 June 2026
Noun
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Kyle Busch was heavily involved in Brexton’s driving endeavors and looked forward to his blossoming career.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
11 June 2026
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After losing his re-election campaign in a three-way race, President Bush devoted much of the rest of his life to charitable endeavors.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Essays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/essays. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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