as in weighing
to be of importance
she believes that doing well in school really does matter
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Recent Examples of mattering
When age stopped mattering During the bourbon boom that accelerated after 2012, demand exploded faster than distilleries could age whiskey.
—
Emily Price, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
But why should that start mattering now?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
In other words, as Cleveland tore through the league last season, the players responded to most of the milestones reached with a collective shrug and worn axioms about nothing mattering until the playoffs.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
But as kids move into adolescence and gain more independence, friends start mattering more, filling the space previously held by parents and teachers.
—Russell Shaw, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
That may be why the Media Matters fight, which seems like just another front with a tangential player in the FTC's bigger battle, may end up mattering the most.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 Aug. 2025
Flett has come to understand mattering as a counterpoint to perfectionism, a more viable way to arrive at a sense of self-worth.
—Leslie Jamison, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
Emily Price, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
But why should that start mattering now?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
In other words, as Cleveland tore through the league last season, the players responded to most of the milestones reached with a collective shrug and worn axioms about nothing mattering until the playoffs.
—Joe Vardon, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
But as kids move into adolescence and gain more independence, friends start mattering more, filling the space previously held by parents and teachers.
—Russell Shaw, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
That may be why the Media Matters fight, which seems like just another front with a tangential player in the FTC's bigger battle, may end up mattering the most.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 Aug. 2025
Flett has come to understand mattering as a counterpoint to perfectionism, a more viable way to arrive at a sense of self-worth.
—Leslie Jamison, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mattering
Verb
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Eventually a team from TPWD arrived with a tanker truck to carry the fish back to the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, where all the Legacy Lunkers (largemouth bass weighing 14 pounds or more) are brought to carry on the state’s selective breeding program.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
29 Jan. 2026
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The detector itself is a 26-meter-long, 16-meter-tall cylindrical apparatus weighing 10,000 tonnes.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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From Belichick, Graham learned to make the offense beat them with their off-hand, so to speak, meaning take away their greatest strength and force the offense to do something different.—
Dianna Russini,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
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Only 43% rated it as the most important factor, meaning that 57% of those Gen Zers polled cared more about other things, including pace of play, interactive features, and emotional storytelling.—
Emil Steiner,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mattering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mattering. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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