SHIPWRECKS Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

shipwrecks 1 of 2

noun

plural of shipwreck

as in disasters

something that has failed finally admitted that their marriage was a shipwreck and that the time had come to bail out

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shipwrecks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of shipwreck

as in wrecks

to cause irreparable damage to (a ship) by running aground or sinking the yachtsman fell asleep at the wheel and shipwrecked his ketch on the rocks

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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 shipwrecks

Noun

The group lives off of the materials from shipwrecks and makes a life for themselves in the trees. — Zachary Fletcher, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 Recent months have also yielded Nazi vehicles, British WWII mines, and multiple historic shipwrecks. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026 For Cline, Day Drinker will test whether her huge online following and all those fans who’ve spent the past six years watching her survive shipwrecks and shootouts on Netflix are ready to follow her onto dry land and into movie theaters. — Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2026 Divers and snorkelers can weave through forests of giant kelp towers, encountering famously playful sea lions, neon fish, and historic shipwrecks. — Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 11 Aug. 2026 Hundreds of shipwrecks are believed to have happened in the notorious strait since the 19th century. — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2026 Record-low water levels along the Danube River have exposed dozens of German military shipwrecks near the Serbian town of Prahovo, where an estimated 200 vessels were deliberately scuttled by retreating Nazi forces in 1944. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2026 After all, their legacy consorting with carnies and flimflammers is less marketable than a tale of mother and daughter reuniting after surviving back-to-back shipwrecks. — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026 In fact, during storms and shipwrecks, shipping containers regularly go overboard. — Alexander Klose, Scientific American, 24 July 2026

Verb

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, young boys gradually become feral and sadistic when trapped on an island together, and in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero magically shipwrecks his brother and his allies so that they will all be exiled together under his watch. — Literary Hub, 11 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shipwrecks

Noun

Getting an accurate count of immigrants of various statuses is useful when assigning resources for public health emergencies or natural or human-made disasters.

— Terry Tang, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
The chapter also examines military disasters caused not by geography but by failures of leadership, organization, discipline, and judgment.

— Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of disasters

Verb

That’s because even ordinary winds – and far worse, storms and earthquakes – cause tall buildings to sway, which ruins people’s concentration, wrecks their mood, and even exhausts them.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 July 2026
As is the case with the Delta Aquarids, the moon, only one day past full, unfortunately, wrecks any chances of getting any decent views this year.

— Joe Rao, Space.com, 18 July 2026

Definition of wrecks

Noun

Alpha has achieved several successful launches, but setbacks and failures have kept Firefly from establishing a routine launch cadence.

— Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 6 Sep. 2026
The convention, a novelty that doesn’t involve the party business typical of a gathering in a presidential year, is expected to contrast what the party sees as GOP wins, with Trump at the helm, against Democratic failures.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of failures

Noun

That didn’t stop catastrophes like the 2018 fire in the Sierra foothills that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85.

— Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Experts warn that catastrophes like this are likely to happen again because rising temperatures in the Himalayas, which are warming faster than the global average, destabilize the region's 60,000 glaciers and trigger more avalanches.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of catastrophes

Noun

There were five five-star QBs in that class, of which only one, Texas’s Arch Manning, remains at his original school, and two, Jackson Arnold and Malachi Nelson, have been major disappointments.

— Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Earnings disappointments led to our exits from Procter & Gamble and Dover .

— Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of disappointments

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shipwrecking

shipwrecks

shipyard

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“Shipwrecks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shipwrecks. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of shipwrecks

noun

verb

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