1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

parentheses

noun

plural of parenthesis
as in intervals
a break in continuity there was a parenthesis of silence when the microphone momentarily lost power

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of parentheses Top 10 With records through Wednesday and last week’s ranking in parentheses. — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026 Numbers in parentheses indicate passage numbers within each chapter. — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026 All figures in parentheses below are current estimates for those crop years in million bales. — Sj Guest Editorial, Footwear News, 18 Aug. 2026 Irrespective of his death in parentheses, Philip Sidney wielded the two typographical boomerangs with aplomb in his brilliantly stylish and dizzyingly chaotic Arcadia. — Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026 Their ages as of the start of next season are in parentheses. — Zach Harper, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026 The tutor recognized the expression, asked him to clarify his parentheses, and guided him through a second application of the difference-of-squares pattern. — Ray Ravaglia, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026 Top 10 best malls Here are USA Today readers’ 2026 selections of their favorite malls in the United States with last year’s rank in parentheses. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 15 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parentheses
  1. intervals
  2. interruptions
  3. hiatuses
  4. gaps
  5. pauses
Noun
  • If vigorous exercise is new to you, build up gradually before adding hard intervals.
    — Jakob Roze, HEALTH, 23 Sep. 2026
  • This work later proved that prime numbers, while randomly scattered in small sections of the number line, appear to be regularly arranged over sufficiently large intervals.
    — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of intervals
Noun
  • And in the full sentence that is a school, curricular interruptions are security threats to the accreditation evaluation that protects the bottom line.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • For example, combining analysis of programmable logic controller logic with sensor data helps identify patterns associated with equipment failure, preventing costly production-line interruptions.
    — Fabio Caversan, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of interruptions
Noun
  • Manon Bannerman and Sophia Laforteza are taking separate hiatuses from Katseye; while Bannerman’s status in the group remains unknown, Laforteza’s mental-health break will continue until she’s reassessed in September.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Haircut 100, on the other hand, took some long hiatuses as a band.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of hiatuses
Noun
  • This is the language the show has used thus far, in that Hal often comes to conclusions and fills in the gaps for us after the fact.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Live Healthy Chicago could serve as a national model for closing life-expectancy gaps by addressing a chronic disease that considers the humanity needed to connect.
    — Garth Walker, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of gaps
Noun
  • Try the cheap partner-side fixes first, match the mid-tier device to the type of snoring and escalate to a doctor the moment breathing pauses enter the picture.
    — Lauren Schuster, Charlotte Observer, 24 Sep. 2026
  • These short and intentional pauses from your tasks have been clinically proven to offer your weary brain a boost.
    — Cheryl Fenton, Flow Space, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of pauses

Browse Nearby Words

parented
parentheses
parenthesis
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Parentheses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parentheses. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of slew

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All