1
as in setback
a change in status for the worse usually temporarily
the scandal caused the president to suffer a dramatic lapse in popularity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mistake
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy
his slip of the tongue about the mayor's name was an unfortunate lapse
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cessation
the stopping of a process or activity
wasn't bothered by the lapse of her membership at the health club
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to expire
to come to an end
the contract will lapse at the end of the year unless we renew
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of lapse
Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 5 May 2025
The Celtics did not have many lapses like that on their march to a title last season.
—Jay King, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Shauna Lyon, New Yorker, 9 May 2025
Such translations were paused earlier this month when the weather service’s contract with the AI company that provided them lapsed.
—Jade Walker, CNN Money, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lapse
Noun
Ricardo Arroyo and Kendra Lara became the first incumbents to lose a primary in roughly four decades, after their own lapses, in September 2023.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 5 May 2025
The Celtics did not have many lapses like that on their march to a title last season.
—Jay King, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Verb
Had my accent lapsed so much that divine intervention was required?
—Shauna Lyon, New Yorker, 9 May 2025
Such translations were paused earlier this month when the weather service’s contract with the AI company that provided them lapsed.
—Jade Walker, CNN Money, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lapse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lapse
Noun
-
The alarming decline in Black student enrollment these last two years coupled with the dismantling of support programs, open a veil to what’s ahead: a devastating setback in economic mobility and progress for Black communities.—
Leadership Brainery,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
-
Zelenskyy said the setbacks for the Kremlin would help force it to the negotiating table, even as its pursues a summer offensive on the battlefield.—
Mehmet Guzel,
Chicago Tribune,
2 June 2025
Noun
-
Playing in the first group, Wong birdied the second hole and made up for his lone mistake (a bogey on No. 3) with birdies at seven and 11 to maintain a slim lead.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
-
Maybe teams won’t make the mistake the Avalanche did and move Rantanen too soon.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
Those cessations in breathing are what constitutes apnea.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
19 May 2025
-
In multiple rounds of diplomacy in 2014 and 2015, after Russia’s takeover of Crimea and incursion into Ukraine’s Donbas region, France and Germany expended more effort on a cosmetic cessation of hostilities than on solving the underlying problems of regional security.—
Liana Fix,
Foreign Affairs,
1 May 2025
Verb
-
Means' Oregon medical license expired in 2019 and was moved to inactive in January 2024.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
-
The team’s current stadium lease expires after the 2028 season.—
Zac Jackson,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
Finally, Elon Musk’s DOGE activities brought its own host of circuit tests that generated smoke and reversals.—
Bruce Yandle,
Boston Herald,
1 June 2025
-
In a reversal from the last two years, the base variant of the latest series, the iPhone 16, leads the chart, followed by the iPhone 16 Pro Max, 16 Pro, and iPhone 15.—
Jibin Joseph,
PC Magazine,
30 May 2025
Noun
-
Only one major-league third baseman, the San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado, has more errors than Muncy’s eight through his first 49 games of the season.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
27 May 2025
-
The poll of 1,136 Democrats carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.89 percentage points.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 May 2025
Noun
-
That was after the pandemic lockdown brought concerts — and much of the world — shuddering to a halt in 2020 and much of 2021 (and before the COVID resurgence that followed).—
George Varga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2025
-
Your money can become temporarily or permanently inaccessible, payment systems can seize up, and the real economy can be brought to a halt.—
Jon Helgi Egilsson,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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The new legislation is the latest in a flurry of bills introduced by Democratic lawmakers aimed at ending the ability of presidents and members of Congress to own or oversee businesses that issue or promote crypto products.—
Michelle Conlin,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
-
So long as Netanyahu refuses to go along with any of Trump’s grand diplomatic initiatives, which might require him to end the Gaza war or entertain some semblance of Palestinian statehood, Israel has nothing to give Trump other than symbolic trinkets.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lapse. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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