as in tools
one that is or can be used to further the purposes of another
though he liked to play up his influence with city hall, he was really just another pawn of the political bosses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in pledges
something given or held to assure that the giver will keep a promise
offered her license as a pawn that she would bring back the rental canoe
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in mortgages
to leave as a guarantee of repayment of a loan
he pawned his antique watch in order to pay off his gambling debt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pawns
Ashlee Conour, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
Our job is to educate those people about how they’re being pushed around like pawns.
—Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
The wooden board is fabricated from curly maple and the knights, pawns, bishops and queens — all positioned as if a game has begun — are made of ceramics.
—Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2026
The play unfolds as a series of battles, where the unaccomplished George and the bitterly disappointed Martha exchange vicious and demeaning insults, using Nick and Honey as the unsuspecting pawns in their war for supremacy.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
They were treated like pawns in a JEA chess game, played and discarded.
—Mark Woods, Florida Times-Union, 20 Feb. 2026
During that period, NYC received 220,000 migrants — because the Republican governor of Texas wanted to cruelly use them as political pawns by sending them here.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Government shutdowns are avoidable and harmful to families, workers, the economy and federal workers shouldn’t be pawns.
—Charlotte Observer, 5 Feb. 2026
Rhode Island activist Nicole Solas said adults shouldn't use students as pawns in political games.
—Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Noun
His desire to cross pawns again.
—Ashlee Conour, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
Our job is to educate those people about how they’re being pushed around like pawns.
—Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
The wooden board is fabricated from curly maple and the knights, pawns, bishops and queens — all positioned as if a game has begun — are made of ceramics.
—Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2026
The play unfolds as a series of battles, where the unaccomplished George and the bitterly disappointed Martha exchange vicious and demeaning insults, using Nick and Honey as the unsuspecting pawns in their war for supremacy.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
They were treated like pawns in a JEA chess game, played and discarded.
—Mark Woods, Florida Times-Union, 20 Feb. 2026
During that period, NYC received 220,000 migrants — because the Republican governor of Texas wanted to cruelly use them as political pawns by sending them here.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Government shutdowns are avoidable and harmful to families, workers, the economy and federal workers shouldn’t be pawns.
—Charlotte Observer, 5 Feb. 2026
Rhode Island activist Nicole Solas said adults shouldn't use students as pawns in political games.
—Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pawns
Verb
-
Those are the players in recent memory who’ve commanded the kind of draft capital that reshapes franchises — the sort of seismic move that mortgages a future and, in return, attaches expectations normally reserved for franchise-carrying superstars.—
Kristian Winfield,
Hartford Courant,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Commuter trains run from Washington’s Union Station to Baltimore’s Camden Station, which deposits fans right outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards.—
Fritz Hahn,
Washington Post,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Even a protein treatment applied to your natural hair deposits an almost imperceptible film atop the strands, rendering the texture distinctly different, thicker, and drier.—
Noel Cymone Walker,
StyleCaster,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pawns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pawns. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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