remnants

noun

plural of remnant
1
as in remainders
a remaining group or portion sailed home with just a remnant of the colony's original population aboard

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scraps
an unused or unwanted piece or item typically of small size or value gathered together her fabric remnants to see if she had enough of them to sew a doll blanket for her niece

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of remnants The remnants of their golden generation still have life in them yet. — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 3 July 2026 Photos from the event showed that Andrew still had the fading remnants of a mysterious bruise on his right cheek. — Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026 By Sunday, local volunteers had taken to the beach to help clean up the remnants of the night before. — Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026 The findings may also explain why some supernova remnants seem to be missing pulsars. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 6 July 2026 Hurricanes displace communities, fires leave charred remnants. — Jamil Wyne, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026 But beyond these genetic remnants, the exact nature of any interactions between our species and Neanderthals is much more of a mystery. — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 6 July 2026 Sportman and a volunteer, Lee West, from the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology, screened a cross-section of the mound to search for human remains or burial remnants. — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2026 The fact that scientific excavations take place and some remnants are saved is thanks to the nation’s first comprehensive local archaeological preservation laws, approved by Miami and Miami-Dade County in the 1980s. — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 30 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for remnants
  1. remainders
  2. scraps
  3. rests
  4. residues
Noun
  • Perhaps even a rag-tag group of remainders can put a scare into San Antonio.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 1 May 2026
  • The best-case scenario would be for the Lakers’ remainders to extend the best-of-seven series with the Rockets long enough for Doncic and Reaves to rejoin LeBron James in that Big Three, either at the end of this series or the start of the next one.
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of remainders
Noun
  • The result sounds like being trapped inside a telephone switchboard, full of repeating signals, samples, and scraps.
    — Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • This can include food waste, such as eggshells and old coffee, as well as compost and worm castings made from food scraps and garden debris.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 July 2026
Definition of scraps
Noun
  • Also, target areas where your own pet rests, such as under the deck.
    — Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 23 June 2026
  • These get 146-degree recline capabilities, with 70-degree leg rests.
    — Utkarsh Sood June 23, New Atlas, 23 June 2026
Definition of rests
Noun
  • Food often contains residues from multiple pesticides, as monitoring programs in Europe and the United States have identified.
    — Brad Reisfeld, The Conversation, 6 July 2026
  • Considerations Before Getting Started Avoid harsh cleaners and tools that can be too abrasive and damage the metal surface or leave harmful residues behind.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 5 July 2026
Definition of residues

Browse Nearby Words

remnant
remnants
remodel
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Remnants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/remnants. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on remnants

Nglish: Translation of remnants for Spanish Speakers

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 gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

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

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

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
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All