Thesaurus results for GESTURES

gestures 1 of 2

noun

plural of gesture

as in signs

a movement of the body or limbs that expresses or emphasizes an idea or feeling a teenager who often shrugs her shoulders in a gesture of indifference

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in courtesies

an act or utterance that is a customary show of good manners sent a handwritten thank-you note as a gesture of his gratitude

Synonyms & Similar Words

gestures

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of gesture

as in motions

to direct or notify by a movement or gesture the police officer gestured me to the side of the road to tell me my headlight was out

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 gestures

Noun

Yet such gestures failed to meet the scale of the problem. —

Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 11 May 2026 Take Vacheron’s spectacular La Quête du Temps clock, featuring an automaton astronomer performing 144 distinct gestures orchestrated through 158 cams and a mechanical memory system linked to the clock. —

Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 11 May 2026 But on the flip side, some studies conclude that CODAs learn from playing interpreter at a young age to communicate better personally and professionally later in life, and may grow up endowed with special talents for conveying and reading facial expressions and gestures. —

Bob Brody, Baltimore Sun, 9 May 2026 Attenborough communicated with the tribe using gestures, looked at their personal ornaments and enquired about the pegs in the ritual punctures in the nose of one of the men. —

Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 8 May 2026 The robot can perform actions from the book, such as offering a fist bump and making dramatic hand gestures during conversations. —

Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 8 May 2026 Consistency, effort and emotional reliability become far more attractive than grand gestures or empty excitement. —

Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026 Ukraine retaliated after Russia spurned Kyiv’s ceasefire offer earlier in the week, with President Zelensky accusing Moscow of ignoring goodwill gestures and continuing all military operations against civilians. —

Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026 This includes the importance of gestures such as going to retrieve from the family casket a pin that reproduces the British and American flags together, as well as those that actually fly on the streets of Washington. —

Giorgia Olivieri, Vanity Fair, 28 Apr. 2026

Verb

Health care executive Rick Jackson gestures to a supporter while qualifying to run for governor at the Georgia state Capitol last month. —

Adam Beam, AJC.com, 10 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gestures

Noun

But there are clear signs that Miller has not backed away from his own views on immigration—including on H-2B visas.

— Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
And that’s evident in so many facets in museums on Route 66, in neon signs and galleries, on menus that have been there, operating for decades and decades.

— AFAR Media, AFAR Media, 11 May 2026