as in departed
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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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Recent Examples of perished
Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
Six others perished prior to transport.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
While the train disaster claimed more than 40 lives, a 6-year-old child whose family perished emerged mostly unscathed.
—Erin Clements, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
An Instagram post by a general from the state of Aragua appeared to be the first public notice that the Presidential guard Eduardo Peraza Moreno had perished, four days after the fact.
—Oriana Van Praag, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
Carolyn’s older sister, Lauren, was also on the plane and perished in the crash as well.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 20 Jan. 2026
Two victims were killed by gunfire and two more perished in the fire.
—Alexandra Chaidez, NBC news, 20 Jan. 2026
The toll suggested by Khamenei was in line with estimates from human rights groups and others that some 3,500 people had perished.
—Arsalan Shahla, Fortune, 17 Jan. 2026
Harold Cunningham/Getty Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italy's Tuscany region, lit a candle for so many teens his own age who had perished.
—CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Verb
Everything there fell apart and perished, as though the steppe were a field of deadly frequency, annihilating, on a molecular level, any object that happened into it.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
Six others perished prior to transport.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
While the train disaster claimed more than 40 lives, a 6-year-old child whose family perished emerged mostly unscathed.
—Erin Clements, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026
An Instagram post by a general from the state of Aragua appeared to be the first public notice that the Presidential guard Eduardo Peraza Moreno had perished, four days after the fact.
—Oriana Van Praag, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
Carolyn’s older sister, Lauren, was also on the plane and perished in the crash as well.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 20 Jan. 2026
Two victims were killed by gunfire and two more perished in the fire.
—Alexandra Chaidez, NBC news, 20 Jan. 2026
The toll suggested by Khamenei was in line with estimates from human rights groups and others that some 3,500 people had perished.
—Arsalan Shahla, Fortune, 17 Jan. 2026
Harold Cunningham/Getty Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italy's Tuscany region, lit a candle for so many teens his own age who had perished.
—CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for perished
Adjective
-
Altars are traditionally decorated with pictures of departed relatives, their favorite foods, drinks and remnants of their lives, such as favorite items or symbols of their profession.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
-
But with Harden, Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac taking the majority of the shots instead of the departed Paul George and a rehabilitating Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers score 45.9 percent of their points in the paint (fifth in NBA).—
Law Murray,
The Athletic,
20 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Shillinglaw says the most powerful stop is the small town of Ypres, where the Last Post Ceremony has been held nearly every night since the end of World War I to honor the men who died on the front lines in Flanders.—
Laura Begley Bloom,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Cain died at the scene, and Hayslip died in a hospital a week later.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The Stars had rebounded from a season-worst, six-match winless skid to construct a three-game points streak, which disintegrated on Tuesday in just their second loss in eight tail ends of back-to-back sets.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
14 Jan. 2026
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Eberflus’ best intentions and vision for winning football disintegrated due in part to his team’s lack of discipline and the coaching staff’s inability to steer out of even the smallest skids.—
Dan Wiederer,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Antoine’s trees were eventually felled after the plantation changed hands multiple times after the death of enslaver Roman.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Jan. 2026
-
For every tree felled in the development of the hotel, two saplings were planted, and what's more, for every day that a guest decides to forgo housekeeping, a new tree will be planted (there's a nifty switch in your room so staff know).—
Grainne McBride,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Politically, the regime has rotted from within, discarding, discrediting, or detaining its own kind.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2026
-
That includes money to replace a lot of wood that rotted away due to holes in the roof and walls.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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His quest to reclaim the power of writing becomes an inner journey between memory and forgetting, between a lost language and a new one, where human, emotion and meaning must be recreated anew.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Friday May 22, will not be a school day, the district said in a social media post, to make up for the lost instructional time.—
Carol Taylor,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Ackerman’s remains were significantly decomposed and partially mummified, according to the autopsy report.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
8 Jan. 2026
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The child's body was decomposed, per the Sheriff's Office.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
26 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Declaring a species extinct requires strong evidence that the last individual has died.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Monk seals, once widespread on the Florida coast, are now extinct.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Perished.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perished. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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