RETURNS Synonyms: 127 Similar and Opposite Words

returns 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of return

as in restores

to bring, send, or put back to a former or proper place when I'm done reading a book, I always return it to the very shelf I got it from

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Relevance

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as in yields

to produce as revenue this technology stock is expected to return a healthy profit

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as in responds

to speak or write in reaction to a question or to another reaction when I asked him to sit down to dinner, he returned that he would come when he was good and ready

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as in reverts

to go back to a previous and usually lower state or level vowed to do anything to keep the recovering alcoholic from returning to his dissolute ways

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returns

2 of 2

noun

plural of return

as in responses

something spoken or written in reaction especially to a question I was moved by my grandfather's lengthy return to my casual question about his experiences in the Vietnam War

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as in proceeds

the amount of money left when expenses are subtracted from the total amount received the return on each unit sold has increased since we streamlined the production process

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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 returns

Verb

Under the visa bond program, the federal government returns the bond amount to applicants whose visas are denied, if visas expire before travel, or if a traveler leaves before their visa expires. —

Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2026 The gunman then disappears again and returns with a woman. —

Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026 Undertone stars Nina Kiri as Evy, a paranormal podcast host who returns home to care for her dying mother. —

Matt Grobar, Deadline, 8 Jan. 2026 Fan-favorite referee Dan Schachner returns for his 15th year to oversee the action, which also includes new and returning segments, as well as celebrity cameos from the Buffalo Bills’ Khalil Shakir, and more. —

Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Jan. 2026 Anna returns unexpectedly after a year’s absence, during which she was replaced as the face of the network by Lexy (Rebecca Rittenhouse, bad, but not her fault). —

Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Jan. 2026 Led by head coach Kevin Young in only his second season, BYU returns star guard Richie Saunders, fresh off a First‑Team All‑Big 12 campaign, and welcomes incoming freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa, one of the top recruits in the country. —

Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025 Yet the nonprofit appears to be concealing this from visitors to its website, where a search function, the only nontechnical tool for seeing what’s in Common Crawl’s archives, returns misleading results for certain domains. —

Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025 In a clip shared exclusively with PEOPLE ahead of Tuesday night's episode of 7 Little Johnstons, Liz gets a little emotional after her baby daughter Leighton, now 2, returns home from her first day of daycare. —

Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025

Noun

The parade route begins at the Tarrant County Courthouse on North Main Street, follows the street south to the Convention Center, and returns north up Houston Street to Weatherford Street. —

Brayden Garcia january 8, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Jan. 2026 But efforts to mitigate human harms—restricting harvests, remodeling dams, breeding salmon in hatcheries—are yielding diminishing returns. —

Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026 The same guidance applies to federal tax returns and other time-sensitive paperwork, USPS says. —

Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 7 Jan. 2026 Since rates were on the move for most of 2025, your decision now can meaningfully affect returns in 2026. —

Brendan Dyer, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026 What started as a returns tool has quietly grown into something bigger. —

Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 7 Jan. 2026 Following a dramatic season nine finale, Tyler Perry‘s Sistas returns for a tenth season. —

Erin Lassner, HollywoodReporter, 7 Jan. 2026 Eggs, caterpillars, and pupae may enter dormancy and emerge when warm weather returns. —

Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 7 Jan. 2026 To make the calculations, Bloomberg used earnings yields as a proxy for equity returns; the gap between borrowing rates in yen and Swiss francs and similar-maturity investment yields in dollars to estimate the carry; and bond indexes that capture a range of maturities for yields on government debt. —

Anya Andrianova, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for returns

Verb

Supporters of the move said the decision restores the statue to its original and intended placement.

— Ross DiMattei, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
The latter is a peptide that restores volume, bounce, and hydration.

— Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 13 Jan. 2026