as in cowards
a person without strength of character
the congresswoman is but a reed who bends whichever way the political winds are blowing
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Recent Examples of reeds
Wicker refers to the method of weaving—most outdoor wicker furniture features materials such as rattan, raffia, bamboo, and willow reeds.
—
Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 14 Apr. 2026
Water levels had risen higher than expected, leaving the cyclist stranded halfway across the river — clinging to reeds with their bike as the current moved around them.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
Linas, a runner, started the Creek Team OC Instagram account after noticing changes on his runs along San Juan and Trabuco creeks, where lush green reeds suddenly turned brown and lifeless.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
The protagonist is a nine-year-old girl named Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayyef), who lives with her grandmother (Waheed Thabet Khreibat), in a mudhif, a house of twisted reeds, in Iraq’s southern marshlands.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
The hippos carve the winding channels of the Delta, breaking through blockages of reeds and water lilies and opening floodgates for the rain that flows down from Angola each year.
—Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026
Dozens of kayakers lined up beneath the West Mission Bay Drive Bridge on a clear, chilly Saturday morning, preparing to paddle through the San Diego River Estuary’s shallow reeds in search of trash threatening one of the region’s most important wildlife habitats.
—Walker Armstrong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2026
Along the banks, the giants of Amazonia, the sentinel royal palms and the colossal domed kapoks, rose above a confusion of trunks, reeds, and trailing vines.
—Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026
Hole soil analysis also found ancient pollens of maize – a key staple in the Andes – and reeds traditionally used for basket-making.
—New Atlas, 21 Dec. 2025
Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 14 Apr. 2026
Water levels had risen higher than expected, leaving the cyclist stranded halfway across the river — clinging to reeds with their bike as the current moved around them.
—Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
Linas, a runner, started the Creek Team OC Instagram account after noticing changes on his runs along San Juan and Trabuco creeks, where lush green reeds suddenly turned brown and lifeless.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
The protagonist is a nine-year-old girl named Lamia (Baneen Ahmad Nayyef), who lives with her grandmother (Waheed Thabet Khreibat), in a mudhif, a house of twisted reeds, in Iraq’s southern marshlands.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
The hippos carve the winding channels of the Delta, breaking through blockages of reeds and water lilies and opening floodgates for the rain that flows down from Angola each year.
—Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026
Dozens of kayakers lined up beneath the West Mission Bay Drive Bridge on a clear, chilly Saturday morning, preparing to paddle through the San Diego River Estuary’s shallow reeds in search of trash threatening one of the region’s most important wildlife habitats.
—Walker Armstrong, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Jan. 2026
Along the banks, the giants of Amazonia, the sentinel royal palms and the colossal domed kapoks, rose above a confusion of trunks, reeds, and trailing vines.
—Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026
Hole soil analysis also found ancient pollens of maize – a key staple in the Andes – and reeds traditionally used for basket-making.
—New Atlas, 21 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reeds
Noun
-
Parties aside, the majority of our legislators are cowards.—
Sam Meas,
Boston Herald,
2 Mar. 2026
-
And Trump calls ’em almost like cowards.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The aquarium features hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and dozens of habitats filled with nearly 8,000 animals, including sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and jellyfish.—
Taylor Haught,
Kansas City Star,
21 Apr. 2026
-
At Blue Magic, one of the archipelago’s top dive sites, once crystal-clear waters are now filled by pink jellyfish tangled in waste.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Between colorful doormats and minimalist styles, these spring-inspired finds add a splash of beauty and practicality.—
Brittany VanDerBill,
Better Homes & Gardens,
13 Apr. 2026
-
One easy way to get rid of dust is by adding doormats at your home’s entry points.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
One of the mice says that his sister is friends with Speedy Gonzales.—
Jared Bahir Browsh,
The Conversation,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Particularly caring mice dads will groom their pups and even insulate them with their bellies against inclement weather.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The work, collected by Yves Saint Laurent and Paul Bergé before drawing the interest of Karl Lagerfeld, Peter Marino, and Tom Ford, offers a fantasy of les enfants laughing while perched on one of Lalanne’s woolly sheep in a sprawling Parisian apartment, Right Bank parents with Left Bank kids.—
David Lê,
Curbed,
20 Apr. 2026
-
As part of the Great Exchange, which spanned from 1492 to 1640, Europeans brought over cows, sheep, and goats.—
Karla Walsh,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reeds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reeds. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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