1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

roadways

noun

plural of roadway
as in highways
a passage cleared for public vehicular travel a cow wandered into the roadway

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 roadways In some cases, cameras that were pointed at roadways would be able to see if traffic had been stopped by the protest. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026 The Brookhill Village complex opened in the 1950s and the roadways show that, according to John Lineberger, director of real estate at Griffin Brothers. — Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 9 Sep. 2026 But imagine a world where self-driving cars dominate the roadways. — Aaron Glantz, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Sep. 2026 The flooding inundated areas along the Trishuli River, burying buildings and damaging bridges and roadways. — David Brennan, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026 People demonstrate trust in automakers, mechanics, government employees who regulate and police roadways, and even other drivers by choosing to drive. — John C. Besley, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026 The biggest bear killers by far in Central Florida are motor vehicles, blamed for killing 1,545 bears in the region in the past 10 years, including 219 in 2025, the most since 2021 when 242 bears died on the region’s roadways. — Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026 The nature of the structure — with roadways cantilevered out under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade — precludes replacing one lane at a time, city officials told reporters last week. — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026 If approved, the legislation would extend exemptions to class cars built between 1976 and 1985 that are used primarily for exhibition purposes and have limited use on public roadways. — Darrielle Fair, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roadways
  1. highways
  2. roads
  3. thoroughfares
  4. streets
  5. freeways
  6. expressways
  7. routes
  8. boulevards
Noun
  • Floodwater continued to cover highways and low-lying areas, disrupting traffic and daily life.
    — Aniruddha Ghosal, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Aitken’s 65-minute installation features multiple characters — played by Natasha Lyonne, Beck, members of the Los Angeles Dance Project and more — moving through settings across America, from deserts and remote mountains to factories and highways.
    — Jem Aswad, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of highways
Noun
  • The roads initially served a military purpose, the professor added.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • As the post-2021 conflict intensified, military checkpoints proliferated on major roads across the country.
    — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of roads
Noun
  • Two years later, Wong became one of the key leaders of the city’s Umbrella Movement protests that rallied thousands of predominantly young people to the streets to call for greater democracy by blocking major thoroughfares for 79 straight days.
    — Chris Lau, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The firm, controlled by Kingsbarn Realty Capital, reportedly wants to build a private road connecting one of Yosemite’s main thoroughfares to the company’s 83 acres of land just outside the park.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of thoroughfares
Noun
  • Some streets in Norfolk, Virginia, were closed Wednesday due to flooding and several are expected to be impassable during high tide Thursday, City Councilman Thomas Smigiel said in a social media post.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The most famous photograph of the early Second World War is of a Frenchman weeping at the sight of Nazi soldiers parading through the streets of Marseilles in 1940.
    — Letters to the Editor, Hartford Courant, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of streets
Noun
  • Major weekend closures and lane restrictions are set to hit several popular metro Phoenix freeways, and the Arizona Department of Transportation warned drivers to use detours as needed.
    — Christian Cervantes, AZCentral.com, 18 Sep. 2026
  • These crimes put everyone traveling on our freeways at risk, and they will be thoroughly investigated.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of freeways
Noun
  • Bikes are not allowed to on freeways or expressways, and cyclists cannot pass through tolls unless the signs nearby dictate otherwise.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The firm noted that major bridges like the Donghai Bridge and the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, as well as regional expressways, have reopened with standard speed limits restored.
    — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of expressways
Noun
  • However, their effectiveness can be limited against drones navigating along preprogrammed routes or communicating through fiber-optic cables.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 2026
  • While Levine Cava’s reductions on late-night routes survived intact in the budget, commissioners agreed to take up the issue again this fall before the cuts took effect this spring.
    — Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of routes
Noun
  • Visitors often still liken the city’s walkable streets and historic architecture to European boulevards.
    — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026
  • There were beautiful boulevards, sweeping bridges over the Moskva River, wide Stalin-era avenues lined with imposing granite buildings, and quiet nineteenth-century neighborhoods of pastel-colored mansions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of boulevards

Browse Nearby Words

roadway
roadways
roam
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Roadways.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roadways. Accessed 26 Sep. 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!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All