Synonym Chooser

How is the word same different from other adjectives like it?

Some common synonyms of same are equal, equivalent, identical, selfsame, and very. While all these words mean "not different or not differing from one another," same may imply and selfsame always implies that the things under consideration are one thing and not two or more things.

took the same route
derived from the selfsame source

In what contexts can equal take the place of same?

Although the words equal and same have much in common, equal implies being identical in value, magnitude, or some specified quality.

equal shares in the business

When could equivalent be used to replace same?

The synonyms equivalent and same are sometimes interchangeable, but equivalent implies amounting to the same thing in worth or significance.

two houses equivalent in market value

When might identical be a better fit than same?

While in some cases nearly identical to same, identical may imply selfsameness or suggest absolute agreement in all details.

identical results

How is very related to other words for same?

Very, like selfsame, may imply identity, or, like same may imply likeness in kind.

the very point I was trying to make

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 same Things were going so well, Romero opened another spot later that same year, 2023, in Olathe at 105 S. Clairborne Road. Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 8 May 2025 With many of these same individuals now returning to the office and the locations that house them, these same towns and others are trying to hang on to that growth model by offering financial incentives to relocate. Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025 Gabriel, a 5-11 quarterback with middling arm strength, will have a difficult time finding that same opportunity. Ben Standig, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025 That same year, István Hegedűs, a former politician who had served in parliament alongside Orbán, read an article in a pro-Fidesz newspaper which implied that only the Party’s generosity enabled C.E.U. to stay in Budapest. Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for same
Recent Examples of Synonyms for same
Adjective
  • The creator replaced it with a nearly identical bronze statue shortly after, but moved its location to private property nearby and attached it to concrete and metal rods.
    Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 16 May 2025
  • Since its inception roughly 50 years ago, the recipe remains nearly identical and closely guarded.
    Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • The eighth episode of the sixth and final season of the Hulu series circled all the way back to the very beginning.
    Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025
  • We are reminded by our guides that Everton won the first league title at Anfield and that Liverpool FC owe their very existence to that rent dispute.
    Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • The Gleason score is created through something similar to a point system.
    Julia Gomez, USA Today, 20 May 2025
  • This is similar in size to the icy particles in Saturn's rings, for example, and the ice is likely frozen around motes of interplanetary dust.
    Keith Cooper, Space.com, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • Overall, Nexstar’s distribution sales for the first quarter of 2025 were $762 million for the quarter, nearly flat with the comparable year-ago period.
    Jennifer Maas, Variety, 8 May 2025
  • One that’s more demonstrable in the industry than other comparable examples of societal laziness.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
Adjective
  • The work of flattening out three-dimensional sculpture into a two-dimensional painting was analogous to intellectualizing and abstracting Blackness as media became more mobile in the early twentieth century.
    Delinda Collier, Artforum, 1 May 2025
  • Together, these provide a wealth of data that any neuroscientist would envy — analogous to a perfect map of a person’s brain, along with separate electrodes to monitor the activity of each neuron.
    Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Same.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/same. Accessed 22 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on same

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