play-by-plays

noun

plural of play-by-play
as in analyses
a series of explanations or observations on something (as an event) on Monday mornings she usually gives her coworkers a detailed play-by-play on how her weekend date went

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for play-by-plays
  1. analyses
  2. commentaries
  3. observations
Noun
  • But two insightful analyses might temper the accelerated growth of LNG.
    — Ian Dexter Palmer, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • Statistical analyses confirmed that these patterns were unlikely to be random.
    — Brian Lawton, The Conversation, 22 July 2026
Definition of analyses
Noun
  • Forget all the theories and commentaries, Homer seems to say.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 July 2026
  • Over the years, through the Sports Huddle and other venues, Andelman participated in some 13,000 radio broadcasts and over 1,200 television commentaries on channels 5 and 7 as well.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 15 June 2026
Definition of commentaries
Noun
  • The Leeds quartet built a reputation on sardonic observations about modern life, packaging political unease inside wiry post-punk.
    — Sophie Miller, Rolling Stone, 19 July 2026
  • The team tested the JWST observations against a computer simulation, finding gas in the infalling filament scenario would indeed take a shape similar to that seen in NGC 4696.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 July 2026
Definition of observations
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.

Browse Nearby Words

play-by-play
play-by-plays
play down
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Play-by-plays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play-by-plays. Accessed 26 Jul. 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 aerie

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

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

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

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

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
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All