GRADES Synonyms: 183 Similar and Opposite Words

grades 1 of 2

noun

plural of grade

as in stages

an individual part of a process, series, or ranking just one grade removed from completion

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Relevance

as in rates

degree of excellence only motor oil of the highest grade for his fancy sports car

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as in types

one of the units into which a whole is divided on the basis of a common characteristic there are various grades of wool to consider when selecting a fabric

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as in standards

something set up as an example against which others of the same type are compared that painting just doesn't make the grade

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in slopes

the degree to which something rises up from a position level with the horizon the hill rises at a seven percent grade

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

grades

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of grade

as in ranks

to arrange or assign according to type grade these apples "extra fancy" and those "fancy"

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in is

to take or have a certain position within a group arranged in vertical classes believe it or not, that music grades pretty high with young teens

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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 grades

Noun

High school grades shape students’ overall GPA, class rank and the transcripts that colleges read. — Laura Link, Washington Post, 21 July 2026 Nearly every high school student understands that in today’s admissions landscape top grades and perfect test scores alone won’t distinguish their application from thousands of others. — Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 Created in 2008, Aspire GSP serves about 403 students in East Oakland in grades 6-12. — Molly Gibbs, Mercury News, 19 July 2026 Mecklenburg County sanitation scores The Mecklenburg County sanitation grades database shows that at least 141 restaurants were inspected July 10-16. — Eva Flowe july 17, Charlotte Observer, 17 July 2026 Going from David Rittich to Vitek Vanecek is a wash; neither grades out as a particularly good backup, and with Ilya Sorokin, that’s not a priority position anyway. — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 16 July 2026 This book classifies 365 traditional herbs into three grades, and the goji berry was among the 120 herbs rated in the top grade for their safety and health benefits. — Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026 How about making sure those parents have their children do their homework, study hard and get good grades? — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 13 July 2026 The breakthrough came when Thieriot teamed up with financier and mathematician Donald Putnam, who developed a framework for converting different crude grades into a common energy unit measured in British thermal units. — Mia Gindis, Fortune, 9 July 2026

Verb

In addition to the zones, the board must decide which grades the new West High School will initially serve. — Arkansas Online, 16 July 2026 The Phillies entered the final 65 games with a bullpen that grades well in underlying measurements. — Matt Gelb, New York Times, 16 July 2026 The 4Cs is the standard GIA grading scale for diamonds, which grades on cut, color, clarity, and carat size. — Shelby Wax, Vogue, 22 May 2026 The report grades medical care facilities on a scale from A to F, with A being the highest grade and F the lowest. — Sacbee.com, 12 May 2026 Mississippi grades its schools A to F and sends coaches to train teachers in low-performing ones. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 11 May 2026 The additional verification comes in the form of a second LLM that grades the output from the first LLM. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 7 May 2026 Ipeirotis grades the exams separately, also with the help of AI. — Jocelyn Gecker, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grades

Noun

Since the knockout stages began, the constant threat of separation has loomed over every step Argentina have made.

— James Horncastle, New York Times, 20 July 2026
Before that, much like Argentina, La Roja had relied on some late goals to get through the latter stages – mainly from Mikel Merino, who struck the winner in both the Round of 16 and quarterfinal after coming on as a late substitute.

— Ben Church, CNN Money, 19 July 2026

Definition of stages

Noun

With the aim of producing an addition 200,000 degrees beyond the 1 million already projected for 2030, the university set goals to improve its graduation rates.

— Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 22 July 2026
His 2025 reality included middling separation scores and rates against both man and zone coverage.

— Jake Ciely, New York Times, 22 July 2026

Definition of rates

Noun

The Enneagram’s nine types The word Enneagram comes from the Greek ennea, meaning nine, and gramma, meaning something drawn.

— Christina Pérez, Vogue, 17 July 2026
According to Peter He, the cofounder and chief scientist of Dirty Labs, a biodegradable cleaning solution company, there are three general types of fabrics.

— Bridget Reed Morawski, Architectural Digest, 17 July 2026

Definition of types

Noun

Culture Is An Ecosystem, Not A Machine Kirstenbosch was formally established as a national botanical garden in 1913 on Table Mountain’s eastern slopes.

— Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
The hot, dry winds move down the southern slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains and risk spreading fires rapidly if there’s an ignition.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026

Definition of slopes

Verb

Brayden Burries, Bucks While most of the vaunted crop of rookie guards from the NCAA ranks struggled, Burries was a glaring exception.

— John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 July 2026
Idaho routinely ranks among the safest states in the nation, with violent and property crimes rates far below national averages.

— Sarah Linn July 22, Idaho Statesman, 22 July 2026

Definition of ranks

Verb

There is arguably no greater example of the players’ power than in 2020 when members of the Atlanta Dream wore T-shirts endorsing then-Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock who at the time was running against Loeffler.

— Annie Costabile, New York Times, 24 July 2026
The alleged purpose of the bill is to improve the retention of police and firefighters, but evidence shows there isn’t a retention crisis among these employees.

— Zachary Christensen, Oc Register, 24 July 2026

Definition of is

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grades

gradient

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“Grades.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grades. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of grades

noun

verb

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