as in tournaments
a competitive encounter between individuals or groups carried on for amusement, exercise, or in pursuit of a prize
a boxing matchup that promises to be a sportswriter's dream
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of matchups
Perhaps Green's claim will give both teams some bulletin board material for those matchups.
—
Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
That’s because of the four postseason matchups between the teams in that span.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 29 Oct. 2025
As the adage goes, with great matchups comes great caffeine intake.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
Ohtani won both of his pitching matchups this postseason, allowing just three earned runs over 12 innings.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 28 Oct. 2025
Nine teams scored at least 30 points in their matchups with the Denver Broncos scoring 44 points in their win over the Dallas Cowboys.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
The Heat also has dropped most of those season openers against the Magic, as Miami is now 1-5 against Orlando in those six season-opening matchups over the past 10 seasons.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Turnovers plagued the Warriors during the preaseason, with the team committing at least 20 in each of their five exhibition matchups.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Here are the five best matchups of the NBA's opening week.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2025
That’s because of the four postseason matchups between the teams in that span.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 29 Oct. 2025
As the adage goes, with great matchups comes great caffeine intake.
—Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
Ohtani won both of his pitching matchups this postseason, allowing just three earned runs over 12 innings.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 28 Oct. 2025
Nine teams scored at least 30 points in their matchups with the Denver Broncos scoring 44 points in their win over the Dallas Cowboys.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
The Heat also has dropped most of those season openers against the Magic, as Miami is now 1-5 against Orlando in those six season-opening matchups over the past 10 seasons.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Turnovers plagued the Warriors during the preaseason, with the team committing at least 20 in each of their five exhibition matchups.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Here are the five best matchups of the NBA's opening week.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for matchups
Noun
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Collins’ 2025 season in Grand Slam tournaments didn’t exactly go as planned.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
3 Nov. 2025
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Houston has made at least the second weekend in six consecutive NCAA tournaments.—
Scott Phillips,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Like his brother, Brandon attends a lot of Freddie’s games with his mom and siblings and even made a red carpet appearance at the 2024 All-Star Red Carpet Show.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
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Yamamoto is also the first pitcher since Curt Schilling to throw consecutive complete games in a postseason.—
Jacob Lev,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But whether Vanity Fair can strike a balance between meaningful journalism that reveals the inner workings of power — while also convincing the powerful to pose for its covers and attend its Hollywood events — remains an open question.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
3 Nov. 2025
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Between camps and commercials and league and Team Canada events, he’s gotten to know just about everybody at least a little bit.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
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City have won 17 of their 18 meetings with Bournemouth in all competitions, but that one defeat, at the Vitality Stadium this time last year, made a real impression on Guardiola.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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Between homecoming, football games and marching competitions every weekend, band students are spending more time with each other than at home.—
Rachel Royster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Sheamus will battle Shinsuke Nakamura in one of the Raw matches, while Damian Priest takes on Rusev in the other.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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The company has been aggressively offering deposit matches to lure clients from Fidelity and Schwab, and assets under management have grown with its TradePMR acquisition.—
MacKenzie Sigalos,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Matchups.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/matchups. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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