GEL Synonyms: 31 Similar and Opposite Words

gel

verb

Definition of gel

as in to freeze

to turn from a liquid into a substance resembling jelly the fruit juice should gel after you add the pectin

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 gel Its remaining five songs seem to appear at random, never gelling into a cohesive force or threading a narrative. — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 6 July 2026 At halftime, Irankunda and Metcalfe came on as substitutes, and the team started to gel and to threaten. — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 1 July 2026 Any apprehensions about whether a first-time collaboration between Hartford’s two largest self-producing theaters — Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks Hartford — could gel smoothly enough to grasp all the nuances of this challenging work are dispelled immediately by the opening number. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 16 June 2026 Formed in London in 1981, Culture Club’s first batch of songs came easily thanks to how well the members gelled, as Moss recalls in the clip from Boy George & Culture Club. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for gel

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gel

Verb

As a result of the layoffs and mass cancellation of contracts in early 2025, millions of NIH websites have been effectively frozen for nearly 18 months.

— Megan Molteni, STAT, 2 Oct. 2026
Cuts are planned to come, in part, from freezing wages for public sector workers like teachers.

— Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of freeze

Verb

Avoiding harsh chemicals like bleach, fabric softeners, and the like will help keep your robe soft and absorbent as these formulas could break down the fabric, leave behind fabric-stiffening residue, or cause pilling and other concerns.

— Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2026
Davidsen bucks up her balky husband with a bloodthirsty holler, stiffens her voice against doubt, and, in her final sleepwalking scene, taps into the tender stratum of Lady Macbeth’s subconscious.

— Justin Davidson, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of stiffen

Verb

The placement on Favre’s 350-yard shot had been dead-on and the lungs were jellied.

— John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 11 Dec. 2025
Small Batch is one of the few businesses in the region taking a chance on jellying the fruit, despite seeing little interest.

— Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 June 2025

Definition of jelly

Verb

The following week, things jelled much better as Alexis Contreras scored Golden State’s first-ever touchdown and the Storm had its own blowout victory, 31–2 over the Las Vegas Silver Stars.

— Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2026
Ulreich said the Redhawks (1-1) had a terrible week of practice, but things jelled from the start against the Porters (0-2).

— Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of jell

Verb

Reciprocal male-on-male mounting among corpse-eating burying beetles increases with heat stress, and chronic heat stress coagulates the blood of Holstein Friesian cattle.

— J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
As most of the scientific books tell us, coagulating protein at lower temperatures produces more tender clumps; adding a little water or cream makes an omelet tenderer still.

— Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue, 5 Apr. 2026

Definition of coagulate

Verb

Before freezing, blanching the potatoes gelatinizes surface starches, and freezing encourages those starches to reorganize into a firmer structure.

— Anne Wolf, Martha Stewart, 8 Feb. 2026
Starches swell with heat and water, gelatinizing to give dough its airy lift.

— Sanjay Srivastava, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

Definition of gelatinize

Verb

This explains why the isotopes are so well mixed rather than clumped, and also tells us that Bennu's parent probably formed not long after Jupiter did.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 27 Sep. 2026
Keep the package sealed after each use to prevent sheets from clumping or breaking down early.

— Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of clump

Browse Nearby Words

Gehennas

gel

gelate

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Gel.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gel. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of gel

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on gel

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

perseverate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes