1
as in obeying
to act according to the commands of
you must observe all the rules of this school, not simply the ones that meet with your personal approval
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in celebrating
to mark with an appropriate practice, rite, or ceremony
a time when few people in New England observed Christmas
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in watching
to keep one's eyes on
happily spent many hours observing the birds at the backyard feeder
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in reflecting
to make a statement of one's opinion
"I think you might be mistaken," he observed
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5
as in noticing
to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes
she observed that the weather had changed again
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in following
to take notice of and be guided by
generally observes the suggestions of the experts regarding baby care
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1
as in participating
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Dissimilar Words
2
as in aware
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Dissimilar Words
as in observation
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of observing
Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 17 Sep. 2025
This combination of talking and observing has immediate benefits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Aug. 2025
Birdwatching is the observing of birds either as a recreational activity or citizen science.
—Michele Herrmann, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2025
That’s why an observing program like COSMOS-Web, the largest, widest-field JWST observing program to date, is so important.
—Big Think, 11 Oct. 2025
In 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2025
The match that the legendary tag team will be observing is set to be contested for both the TNA World Tag Team Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship.
—Fernando Quiles Jr, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
According to the website, states may exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time by state law in accordance with the Uniform Time Act, as amended.
—Chris Sims, IndyStar, 6 Oct. 2025
Health inspectors cited the liquor store after observing a lack of paper towels and hand soap at the handwashing station.
—Sarah Linn, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025
While Piaget was certainly correct in observing that children engage in a host of unusual behaviors, my lab recently uncovered evidence that upends some long-standing assumptions about the limits of children’s logical capabilities that originated with his work.
—Celeste Kidd, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2025
The observation was reported to the Minor Planet Center, the official authority for observing and reporting new asteroids, comets and other small bodies in the solar system.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
In fact, during the first period of the fourth observing run (known as O4A), LIGO saw more gravitational wave events than from all previous observing runs combined.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 17 Sep. 2025
This combination of talking and observing has immediate benefits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Aug. 2025
Birdwatching is the observing of birds either as a recreational activity or citizen science.
—Michele Herrmann, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
By observing how these everyday devices communicate, attackers can infer information about people in the environment without installing or accessing any additional equipment, making the method far easier to deploy and potentially more widespread.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2025
That’s why an observing program like COSMOS-Web, the largest, widest-field JWST observing program to date, is so important.
—Big Think, 11 Oct. 2025
In 1972, a young student is profoundly changed by the simple act of observing and connecting with a geranium.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2025
The match that the legendary tag team will be observing is set to be contested for both the TNA World Tag Team Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship.
—Fernando Quiles Jr, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
According to the website, states may exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time by state law in accordance with the Uniform Time Act, as amended.
—Chris Sims, IndyStar, 6 Oct. 2025
Health inspectors cited the liquor store after observing a lack of paper towels and hand soap at the handwashing station.
—Sarah Linn, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025
While Piaget was certainly correct in observing that children engage in a host of unusual behaviors, my lab recently uncovered evidence that upends some long-standing assumptions about the limits of children’s logical capabilities that originated with his work.
—Celeste Kidd, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2025
The observation was reported to the Minor Planet Center, the official authority for observing and reporting new asteroids, comets and other small bodies in the solar system.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for observing
Verb
-
While current power brokers haven’t scrapped movies over their content, yet, Hollywood has a recent history of companies obeying in advance by shelving projects until the tensions cool.—
Chris Yogerst,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Oct. 2025
-
It was intended simply to verify that a nonviolent offender was obeying curfew hours.—
Robert S. Gable,
IEEE Spectrum,
20 July 2017
Verb
-
Eden has enjoyed a decades-long career in Hollywood, though many best remember her from the beloved 1960s sitcom celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The recent rise of weight loss medications coincided with social media influencers sharing ways to get smaller and no longer celebrating bodies of all sizes.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Shoutout to all the pocket-watching haters.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
17 Oct. 2025
-
This season’s starting quarterback, Caleb Williams, likely wasn’t watching that game.—
Dan Wiederer,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
This year’s program featured 76 films from 26 countries, selected from over 1,700 submissions, including first time entries from Sao Tomé and Principe, Belize and Ecuador, reflecting both an expanding international reach and deepening artistic ambition.—
Essie Assibu,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Voters in New Jersey still see a clear ideological divide between Sherrill and Ciattarelli, reflecting the broader partisan split shaping the state’s tight governor’s race.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Nocturnal and largely solitary, brown hyenas are rarely seen, so van den Heever started to use a camera trap after noticing their tracks in the area.—
Jack Guy,
CNN Money,
14 Oct. 2025
-
After noticing Atlas sometimes got upset when their dad dropped them off at school, Aveline began sneaking into his room each morning after Kay laid out his clothes.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Swim in a direction following the shoreline.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Oct. 2025
-
After many years of close friendship, the couples became estranged following the unsolved murder, in 1963, of the Kupcinets’ daughter, Karyn, a Hollywood actress.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The docuseries also included an allegation that Michaels was aware of the administration of caffeine pills to contestants — claims that Michaels quickly and vigorously denied.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Without nerve sensation, the patients weren’t aware of festering ulcers and infections, which therefore went untreated until amputation was the only option.—
Carrie Arnold,
Scientific American,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The University of York study explains how particle interactions with dark matter could be tested through real-world observations.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Readers of this newsletter will probably be familiar with the AI scaling laws—the observation that an AI’s capabilities increase in line with the amount of (useful) data and computing power that it is trained on.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Observing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/observing. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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