as in keys
something that allows someone to achieve a desired goal
it turned out that a simple "please" was the open sesame for charming the hotel manager into giving us a room with a better view
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for open sesames
Noun
-
What To Know About Changing Your Locks Make things easy for yourself by replacing all exterior locks at once with matching keys.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
11 Mar. 2026 -
The machine worked by reading music that was encoded by holes punched into rolls of paper, which in turn directed airflows to levers that depressed piano keys.—
Adam Ozimek,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
When there aren’t enough tickets, that drives up demand insanely on secondary sites.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Fans and politicians had intensified calls to examine Live Nation’s 2010 acquisition of Ticketmaster, after the company subjected Taylor Swift fans to hours-long online queues while charging high prices for tickets to her 2022 Eras tour.—
Reuters
Wire Service,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Kuwait’s Shuwaikh Port saw four late departures, while Iraq’s Umm Qasr Port had two transshipment delays, with both gateways seeing zero cases on Sunday.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The airports are gateways to millions of passengers flying to and from destinations that span Australia, India, Europe and North America.—
Leslie Josephs,
CNBC,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The results showed that passports — far exceeding every other item tested — contained 436 CFUs.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
11 Mar. 2026
-
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to allow Americans to renew their passports online, eliminating the need for physical documents and paper checks to be sent through the mail.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Open sesames.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/open%20sesames. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
