1
as in lectures
a usually formal discourse delivered to an audience
the guest of honor gave a short speech in appreciation of the award
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in languages
the stock of words, pronunciation, and grammar used by a people as their basic means of communication
wanting to develop a writing system for his people, Sequoya created a system of 86 symbols representing all the syllables of Cherokee speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of speeches
Equal parts speeches, awards and entertainment.
—
Jenny B. Fine, Footwear News, 8 May 2026
Still, those pregame and postgame speeches carry weight, even if there’s much more to Brind’Amour than his unmatched enthusiasm and intensity.
—Cory Lavalette, New York Times, 7 May 2026
Only on rare occasions do popes address foreign legislatures, and the speeches often end up among the most noteworthy of a pontificate.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Matters culminated in a large crowd gathering at Haymarket Square, where several labor activists rose to make pro-labor speeches and pillory the McCormick conflict.
—Michael Peregrine, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
Commencement speeches are meaningful opportunities for candid and charismatic expression within a community.
—Aileen Favilla, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
Read on to see who is delivering Texas college commencement speeches for the Class of 2026.
—Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, 3 May 2026
After about 90 minutes of speeches outside City Hall, demonstrators marched through Center City, led by some of the city's largest labor unions.
—Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 2 May 2026
To the delight of those lawmakers and their families and friends watching, King Charles added his own flourishes, and most observers who hadn’t heard many of his speeches before were impressed by his combination of wisdom with wit.
—Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
Jenny B. Fine, Footwear News, 8 May 2026
Still, those pregame and postgame speeches carry weight, even if there’s much more to Brind’Amour than his unmatched enthusiasm and intensity.
—Cory Lavalette, New York Times, 7 May 2026
Only on rare occasions do popes address foreign legislatures, and the speeches often end up among the most noteworthy of a pontificate.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
Matters culminated in a large crowd gathering at Haymarket Square, where several labor activists rose to make pro-labor speeches and pillory the McCormick conflict.
—Michael Peregrine, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
Commencement speeches are meaningful opportunities for candid and charismatic expression within a community.
—Aileen Favilla, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026
Read on to see who is delivering Texas college commencement speeches for the Class of 2026.
—Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, 3 May 2026
After about 90 minutes of speeches outside City Hall, demonstrators marched through Center City, led by some of the city's largest labor unions.
—Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 2 May 2026
To the delight of those lawmakers and their families and friends watching, King Charles added his own flourishes, and most observers who hadn’t heard many of his speeches before were impressed by his combination of wisdom with wit.
—Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speeches
Noun
-
The Final Jeopardy question, which fell under the world languages category, asked for the alphabetically first and last of South Africa's 12 official languages.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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When there is no war on, the shelter functions as a community center, complete with a Filipino church, a refugee health clinic, and retailers catering to customers in more than a dozen languages.—
Theia Chatelle,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and one of the negotiators in past talks with the US in Pakistan, Mohammad Ghalibaf, warned Iranians of a hard road ahead in a series of audio messages posted by state media.—
Alejandra Jaramillo,
CNN Money,
6 May 2026
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Raise a glass Corning CEO Wendell Weeks talks to CNBC's Katie Tarasov at Corning's cable factory in Hickory, North Carolina, on January 9, 2026.—
Davis Giangiulio,Alex Harring,
CNBC,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
By the end of the learning unit, Burton said growth in the children could be seen as their vocabularies expanded to using words such as thermometer, blood pressure and punctured.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Shallow, misogynistic speech has seeped into the daily vocabularies of many, suggesting the toxic, anti-woman values that have long inspired such rhetoric are once again calcifying into a widespread and serious problem.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Even when the Lord’s name was left out, Stanley speeches sounded like sermons.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Late in his life, Dollison delivered sermons for Church of Christ congregations in Rector, Greenway and Jonesboro, as well as in the Missouri communities of Leachville and Campbell.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues.—
Julie Sharp,
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Composer Paul has concocted a pastiche of songs forever on the edge of our memories if not our tongues.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Before his assassination at age 39 on April 4, 1968, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate spent a decade giving fearless orations and profound insights that continue to inspire generations, all deserving attention and consideration.—
Lydia Price,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
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His orations of statistics, stories, and argumentative persuasion at colleges were energetic, frictious, and necessary to unshackle us from grievance and tribalism.—
Alex Rosado,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
If the assignment is to translate something from a foreign language, there are plenty of tools and resources that can do it for you, including by recognizing and figuratively translating idioms.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Those books introduced me to a vision of American teenage life and taught me the rhythms and idioms of American English, nuances that would later replace my Britishisms and shape my career as a journalist.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The names of your adult children and their addresses.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
9 May 2026
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The data taken in the April 29 incident included personal information of users at affected organizations, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers and messages among Canvas users, the company said.—
Jon Haworth,
ABC News,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Speeches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speeches. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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