as in departed
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Dissimilar Words
1
as in died
to stop living
12 people perished in the plane crash
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disintegrated
chiefly British
to go through decomposition
after being left out in the summer heat, the milk perished and had to be thrown out
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of perished
Rev. José Rodriguez, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 June 2026
Teens killed in another recent fire Some of the same first responders were at the scene in nearby Cortland Manor where teen siblings perished in an electrical fire on May 26.
—Tony Aiello, CBS News, 4 June 2026
Nineteen firefighters perished in the blaze.
—Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 22 May 2026
The vast majority of people in Pompeii and Herculaneum—the cities hardest hit—perished from asphyxiation, choking on the thick clouds of noxious gas and ash.
—ArsTechnica, 18 May 2026
On the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughur, high on a hill, among green shrubs lie the graves of hundreds of Uyghur fighters who perished fighting the Assad regime.
—Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
That fire also claimed the life of Lance Garcia, 25, who perished saving his mother, who remains hospitalized in critical condition, unaware that her son made the ultimate sacrifice.
—Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 16 May 2026
The annual event pays homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens who perished in that war.
—Reuters, NBC news, 10 May 2026
While his phone screen shimmered with suggestions, our teensy tree perished alone on the patio.
—Jamie Siebrase, Denver Post, 8 May 2026
Verb
Forty-nine lives perished that night.
—Rev. José Rodriguez, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 June 2026
Teens killed in another recent fire Some of the same first responders were at the scene in nearby Cortland Manor where teen siblings perished in an electrical fire on May 26.
—Tony Aiello, CBS News, 4 June 2026
Nineteen firefighters perished in the blaze.
—Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 22 May 2026
The vast majority of people in Pompeii and Herculaneum—the cities hardest hit—perished from asphyxiation, choking on the thick clouds of noxious gas and ash.
—ArsTechnica, 18 May 2026
On the outskirts of Jisr al-Shughur, high on a hill, among green shrubs lie the graves of hundreds of Uyghur fighters who perished fighting the Assad regime.
—Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
That fire also claimed the life of Lance Garcia, 25, who perished saving his mother, who remains hospitalized in critical condition, unaware that her son made the ultimate sacrifice.
—Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 16 May 2026
The annual event pays homage to the 27 million Soviet citizens who perished in that war.
—Reuters, NBC news, 10 May 2026
While his phone screen shimmered with suggestions, our teensy tree perished alone on the patio.
—Jamie Siebrase, Denver Post, 8 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perished
Adjective
-
Delegation meeting uplifted the departed and living Ald.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
28 May 2026
-
Expect Marquise Lightfoot, a twitchy 235-pound edge rusher, and Mizzou transfer Damon Wilson to step in for the departed first-rounders.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
In August 2025, a horse collapsed and died in Manhattan after suffering an apparent aortic rupture, according to the Animal Welfare Institute, a non-profit organization.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
-
The incident came just days after a carriage horse named Deniz collapsed and died near West 72nd Street and West Drive while pulling tourists through the park.—
Brittany Miller,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2026
Verb
-
Any potential scoring opportunity in the fifth inning disintegrated after Dalton Rushing’s leadoff walk.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
10 June 2026
-
Blaine is disintegrated, while Sam is clearly changed.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 May 2026
Adjective
-
Herbie Hancock conjured what sounded like a lost Debussy Prélude.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
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Some scholars have also linked the event to later stories about Atlantis, the lost island civilization described by Plato.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
Aalto University / Mahdi Asgari History is filled with stories of the great being felled by the puny.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
19 June 2026
-
And those are the lucky ones, who weren’t felled by late-season injuries and bumped from the tournament the way Brazil’s Rodrygo, Japan’s Kaoru Mitoma and Germany’s Serge Gnabry were.—
Luke Cyphers,
Sportico.com,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
While the timber has long since rotted away, the posts lined up to point directly at the rising sun during the summer solstice and the setting sun at the winter solstice — in the same way as Stonehenge.—
Elmira Aliieva,
NBC news,
18 June 2026
-
The storm hit Jamaica on August 12, splintering three hundred homes, and 90 percent of banana crops rotted to black in the post-storm humidity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
Conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans had not become extinct.—
George Liebmann,
Baltimore Sun,
13 June 2026
-
Since then, the editing capability of CRISPR has been tested on everything from developing disease treatments to engineering drought-resistant crops to resurrecting genes of extinct species.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
Prosecutor Cheryl Galvin disagreed, saying that while the body had decomposed, the medical examiner was still able to conclude Chiodo died by homicide due to blunt force and sharp force injuries.—
Evy Lewis,
Chicago Tribune,
10 June 2026
-
Compost is decomposed organic matter, created when microorganisms break down plant materials, food scraps, leaves, manure, and other organic inputs.—
Rae Ford,
Martha Stewart,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Perished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perished. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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