SHADOWS Synonyms: 131 Similar and Opposite Words

shadows 1 of 2

noun

plural of shadow

as in dark

a time or place of little or no light lurking in the shadows

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shadows

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of shadow

as in chases

to go after or on the track of shadowing the suspect to see what he was up to

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in blurs

to make dark, dim, or indistinct thickening clouds shadowed the countryside

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shades

to shelter (something) from light and heat a pathway shadowed by a canopy of arching branches

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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 shadows

Noun

These games are also lighter in terms of ray-tracing demands, running on the first versions of the technology, which were widely toggleable and focused on more realistic reflections and shadows. — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 17 Oct. 2026 The autumn sun is drifting southward and the angle of shadows is shifting. — Dana Kelley, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026 The forests are thick with spruce, their needles a deep, musty green veiled in shadows. — Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026 Ambarchi is the director who makes occasional cameos, hiding with his guitar in the shadows until stepping forward only when necessary. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026 Before observatories such as Greenwich, humans used sundials — essentially a stick in the ground that casts shadows as the sun moves overhead. — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026 Today's Republican party should take a page from their old playbook and support an amnesty program that would bring millions of undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. — Wcco Staff, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 Depending on the time of day and the weather, visitors will see these spaces under different light and cast with varying shadows. — New Atlas, 9 Oct. 2026 At a press conference yesterday NASA presented its preliminary findings, which touch on everything from the moon’s surprisingly colorful craters to a series of curious flashes that the astronauts spied in lunar shadows. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2026

Verb

An unusually tight security detail shadows Rodríguez’s every step. — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 30 July 2026 While darker colors remained visible, they could be mistaken for dirt, debris, or shadows underwater. — Cody Godwin, USA Today, 1 May 2026 My driver slowed on purpose, timing the arrival for that late-afternoon light when the stucco warms and shadows sharpen. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Apr. 2026 The corridor before him seems never-ending, extending miles, shadows short and dark, shadows light and long. — Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026 Through it all, Kate and William balanced expanding royal duties with school runs and family life, even as illness still shadows the monarchy. — Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 19 Dec. 2025 However, Quinyon Mitchell has taken a step up this season and shadows the NFL’s best receiver. — Zach Berman, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025 If Gonzalez shadows Panthers rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina’s leading receiver, their battle could swing critical moments and perhaps the game. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025 The movie’s ensemble also includes Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright, and Tom Sturridge, but this is said to be Dano’s show, with Law’s Putin a malevolent presence who shadows his every move. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 25 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shadows

Noun

The good news is that the winds are expected to lay down after dark.

— Tom Tapp, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026
Look toward the eastern and southeastern sky after dark for its steady yellowish light.

— Jamie Carter, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of dark

Verb

Six such accounts make up the series as Hojo chases the truth behind them.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026
For anyone who grinds fresh every morning and chases single-origin lots, online talk about mold and mycotoxins in coffee tends to raise a practical question about how the stuff gets onto beans in the first place.

— Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of chases

Verb

Blending 1970s sci-fi aesthetics with a timeless world where cell phones are the only markers of temporal difference, the film blurs the boundaries between memory, history and the supernatural.

— Anna Marie de la Fuente, Variety, 18 Oct. 2026
The administration’s pursuit of profit and peace blurs the line between public and private interests.

— Max Boot, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of blurs

Verb

Aaron Rodgers seemingly shades his brother Jordan in a new interview.

— Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Gabriel and Haaland are key men for their countries, too; whoever shades their personal duel will have a great chance of finishing on the winning team.

— Jack Lang, New York Times, 5 July 2026

Definition of shades

Noun

Or to be up high and see that, down below, a town is just a grid spread out on a map and nothing more, a grid that flickers with lights that spark on as the darkness commences.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
Allure’s guide to permanent makeup describes artists placing individual dots and adjusting size, placement and darkness to produce a natural scatter across the nose and cheeks.

— Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of darkness

Verb

The Wesleyan Media Project, a group of experts that tracks political propaganda in campaigns, identified at least 220 ads produced or enhanced with artificial intelligence by candidates or political action committees this election cycle.

— Anagilmara Vílchez, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
As of Friday morning, nearly 21 million Americans have already cast ballots in the midterm elections, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, which tracks voting by mail and in person.

— A Martínez, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of tracks

Verb

Additionally, the metaphor of the kill switch also obscures the human decisions involved in the responsibility and oversight of an out-of-control model.

— Trent Wintermeier, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2026
While the planets in our solar system are still visible, sky glow obscures more distant objects, such as fainter stars.

— Chris McMullen, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of obscures

Browse Nearby Words

shadowlike

shadows

shadowy

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Style

“Shadows.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shadows. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shadows

noun

verb

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