as in turmoil
a disturbed or uneasy state
the city was in ferment as its residents nervously awaited the outcome of the referendum vote
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to provoke
to bring (something volatile or intense) into being
the various social and economic factors that fermented the major cultural change during the U.S. during the 1960s
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ferment
Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
The first bulk ferment, the long one is really for kind of flavor, honestly.
—Emily Elias, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026
Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2026
The rise of kimchi, Korean fermented vegetables, has been smoother.
—Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ferment
Noun
The working classes of Königsberg, caught up with much of Europe in a period of religious ferment, thought that Schönherr was onto something.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
The first bulk ferment, the long one is really for kind of flavor, honestly.
—Emily Elias, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Feb. 2026
Verb
Signs educate guests on the process of how the agave is fermented with yeast in large tanks and wooden vats.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 7 Apr. 2026
The rise of kimchi, Korean fermented vegetables, has been smoother.
—Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ferment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ferment
Noun
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Twelve destinies searching for peace and belonging, while the house remains a haven through decades of turmoil.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2026
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Others aren’t so sure, pointing to the long hiatus, the off-screen turmoil and a television landscape that no longer moves in lockstep.—
Precious Fondren,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Christopher Nolan has cemented his status as one of our most consistently original and thought-provoking directors.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
6 Apr. 2026
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But traumatic episodes like the Notre-Dame fire generally provoke returns to the safe and familiar, not experimentation.—
David A. Bell,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Bakers rely on flour, water, salt, and a natural starter, using fermentation—rather than additives—to develop flavor and structure, Gavin says.—
Olivia McIntosh,
Martha Stewart,
4 Apr. 2026
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Visitors taste the fruit from pods, watch the fermentation process and not only see how the beans transform but taste the finished product.—
Sandra Guzman,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Perhaps the easiest way to start an argument online is to post a video of a mother raising her child.—
Micah Barkley,
Bloomberg,
10 Apr. 2026
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Political parties were disincentivized from forming coalitions—which might have unified the anti-Orbán vote—by incrementally raising the threshold required for alliances to enter Parliament.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This time around, though, heavy casualties risk triggering internal mass unrest in a nation where a sizable portion of the population is anti-regime, regardless of their religious embrace of martyrdom.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
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After the 2020 unrest, however, City Hall moved to expand and elevate that model.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This will help promote housing stability and economic mobility.—
Chase Jordan
April 7,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Apr. 2026
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In addition, the peptide seems to promote angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels, possibly via a signalling molecule expressed in many human cancers.—
Dhruv Khullar,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ferment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ferment. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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