SPRAWL Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

sprawl

verb

Definition of sprawl

as in to extend

to extend outwards from or as if from a central point The suburbs sprawl for miles beyond the city's downtown.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

as in to stretch (out)

to rest with the arms and legs spread out There's no feeling like sprawling out on your bed after a hard day's work.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 sprawl Horror may now be respectable enough for its own sprawling exhibition at the Academy Museum, but Criterion’s October lineup proves there are still plenty of disreputable pleasures to be found. — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026 At one point before its completion, Kanye West reportedly toured the active construction site, expressing a keen interest in purchasing the sprawling hillside complex. — Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 2 Oct. 2026 In an Edwardian manor near Grosvenor Square—where sprawling shopping destinations Regents Street and New Bond Street are there for window gawking—the 31 rooms prove to be a welcome respite from city noise. — Katharine Sohn, Architectural Digest, 2 Oct. 2026 The move marks the Johnson administration’s second attempt at such a sprawling settlement. — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sprawl

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sprawl

Verb

In a statement later on Saturday, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem mourned Maisa Abu Dawoud and her daughter, Mary, extending condolences to their family.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
Doubts in facilities management Now, CDE employees say their concerns extend beyond bedbugs to how their headquarters are maintained overall.

— Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of extend

Verb

Back in the present, the Halogram (last updated in 2006) susses out that John is lying about the grandeur of Hal’s funeral when the former protégé mentions sitting next to MOGO, the Lantern who famously doesn’t socialize.

— Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026
That’s why inflation, which has sat well above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years, remains a problem that won’t be easily solved, even if the Iran war ended and tariffs went away.

— David Goldman, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of sit

Verb

That diverges significantly from other perpetual futures products offered internationally.

— Davis Giangiulio,Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026
The race to determine who will lead one of the United States’s largest cities took a twist Tuesday, when the two women battling to win Los Angeles’s mayoral race sharply diverged over Israel.

— Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of diverge

Verb

If the Dodgers flop this October, the owners are not going to suddenly back off a salary cap.

— Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
While the warehouse project has flopped, records show that in the last few months ICE has quietly expanded its detention system in other ways.

— Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of flop

Verb

The same architecture can now support another round of measurements from orbit as the constellation expands.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Oct. 2026
The episode ultimately reunites Constance with two of her children, Tate and Adelaide (Jamie Brewer), as the season continues to expand its connections to the show’s earlier installments.

— Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of expand

Verb

Our favorite spots to lounge were the roof deck loungers and the padded bench seating beneath shady palm fronds in the atrium courtyard.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Sep. 2026
Keep scrolling to shop more Cozy Earth essentials for lounging, sleeping, and gifting at Nordstrom.

— Vivien Lee, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of lounge

Verb

The jet carries 500,000 times the energy radiated by the sun and explains the mystery of how feeding black holes become such powerful cosmic particle accelerators and generate such high-energy gamma-ray photons.

— Robert Lea, Space.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Or, for that matter, whether the grandfather of the Reality-Vigilante-TV Industrial Complex ever felt the level of fear and self-loathing that radiates off Pattinson’s human-flop-sweat of a portrayal.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of radiate

Verb

For the couple, the biggest issue with the house, which rests on a 10,500-square-foot street-to-street lot, was that many rooms in the 2,000-square-foot home didn’t take advantage of the breathtaking views.

— Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
There’s been significant opposition to the deal from the start, but also tremendous pressure on Bonta to put the case to rest as Ellison threatened to move the studio out of California.

— Dominic Patten, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of rest

Browse Nearby Words

sprats

sprawl

sprawled

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sprawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sprawl. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of sprawl

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

regimen

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes