as in balances
a device for measuring weight
I hate getting on the bathroom scale
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in hierarchies
a scheme of rank or order
a student who scored very highly on a standard intelligence scale
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in ranges
the distance or extent between possible extremes
with the scale going from one to ten, what did you think of the movie?
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in measures
to find out the size, extent, or amount of
scaled the logs to get a rough idea of the amount of usable lumber they were likely to yield
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of scales
Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 27 Jan. 2026
Maintaining that trust as the brand scales has required discipline.
—Gabby Shacknai, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
The chasm between physical scales — atoms are vastly larger than the Planck scale — seems unstable and unnatural.
—Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2026
The requests often ask for several years' worth of purchase orders, inventory logs, vendor payments, pay scales, per diem amounts and internal planning documents.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 26 Jan. 2026
This cycle elapses across thousands of years—glacially slow to us but almost instantaneous on cosmic scales.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2026
There’s also a revolving cast of characters, like musical theater snob Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), her pianist brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Troy’s puppy-dog-esque best friend Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu), all with varying levels of excitement about Troy’s sudden interest in arpeggio scales.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2026
Whether the concept scales will depend on partnerships, regulation and public adoption.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Jan. 2026
In addition to swaying elections, wealth may also be tipping the scales in court.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2026
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
That customer centric lens also guides how Caterpillar identifies and scales innovation.
—Peter High, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Skip cluttered wall art, freestanding toilet paper holders, and scales to keep your bathroom sleek.
—Sarah Lyon, The Spruce, 19 Jan. 2026
But Meta is set to announce layoffs this week in the company’s Reality Labs business, according to reporting by The New York Times, as the company scales back its metaverse unit.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
In this role, Klingenberg will lead CFY’s engineering and data science teams as the company scales.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 9 Jan. 2026
Cue the Mayhem Ball, the pop star’s eighth concert tour, where Lady Gaga rises from a sand pit populated with skeletons, scales up a dress the size of a multi-story apartment building, and unravels the longest gown train a bride could ever dream of.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 8 Jan. 2026
The credit scales down, based on income, to $123 per young child and $92 for older children for individual filers making between $80,000 and $85,000.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 31 Dec. 2025
Rather, if the Internet of Things scales up as predicted, and smart home and smart city tech takes hold, before too long everything everywhere will be dialing in to 6G infrastructure for more and more sizable uplinks.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Dec. 2025
Noun
To further validate the technology and its operation at larger scales, the researchers plan to build a 20 kW system in collaboration with industrial partners.
—Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 27 Jan. 2026
Maintaining that trust as the brand scales has required discipline.
—Gabby Shacknai, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
The chasm between physical scales — atoms are vastly larger than the Planck scale — seems unstable and unnatural.
—Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2026
The requests often ask for several years' worth of purchase orders, inventory logs, vendor payments, pay scales, per diem amounts and internal planning documents.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 26 Jan. 2026
This cycle elapses across thousands of years—glacially slow to us but almost instantaneous on cosmic scales.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2026
There’s also a revolving cast of characters, like musical theater snob Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), her pianist brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Troy’s puppy-dog-esque best friend Chad Danforth (Corbin Bleu), all with varying levels of excitement about Troy’s sudden interest in arpeggio scales.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 24 Jan. 2026
Whether the concept scales will depend on partnerships, regulation and public adoption.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Jan. 2026
In addition to swaying elections, wealth may also be tipping the scales in court.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 23 Jan. 2026
Verb
Output scales up without sacrificing control or adding excess weight.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
That customer centric lens also guides how Caterpillar identifies and scales innovation.
—Peter High, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Skip cluttered wall art, freestanding toilet paper holders, and scales to keep your bathroom sleek.
—Sarah Lyon, The Spruce, 19 Jan. 2026
But Meta is set to announce layoffs this week in the company’s Reality Labs business, according to reporting by The New York Times, as the company scales back its metaverse unit.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 13 Jan. 2026
In this role, Klingenberg will lead CFY’s engineering and data science teams as the company scales.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 9 Jan. 2026
Cue the Mayhem Ball, the pop star’s eighth concert tour, where Lady Gaga rises from a sand pit populated with skeletons, scales up a dress the size of a multi-story apartment building, and unravels the longest gown train a bride could ever dream of.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 8 Jan. 2026
The credit scales down, based on income, to $123 per young child and $92 for older children for individual filers making between $80,000 and $85,000.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 31 Dec. 2025
Rather, if the Internet of Things scales up as predicted, and smart home and smart city tech takes hold, before too long everything everywhere will be dialing in to 6G infrastructure for more and more sizable uplinks.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scales
Verb
-
The property’s lot measures 4,640 square feet in area.—
Bay Area Home Report,
Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The radio chart measures the number of plays each song received in a particular week.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
2 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The research firm's Secondhand Pricing Tracker gauges the resale premium — or the auction sale price of a bag compared to its original retail price — and is weighted by volume.—
Robert Frank,
CNBC,
16 Dec. 2025
-
Tracking river flooding River and tide gauges across the state that are near or at the flood stage will be shown on the map.—
Patrick Smith,
NBC news,
12 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scales. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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