as in discovery
the act or process of sighting or learning the existence of something for the first time
the unearthing of a prehistoric man who had been preserved in an Alpine glacier proved to be a great boon to science
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Recent Examples of unearthing
Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 20 Jan. 2026
The murders followed a deadly boat crash that led to the unearthing of multiple scandals involving the wealthy family, one of the state's most formidable legal dynasties.
—Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Oct. 2025
Rochana Redkar, Clinical Fellow in Paediatric Haematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, was excited to see the unearthing.
—Jennifer Hauser, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
The trailer also teases the unearthing of Addams family secrets.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2026
The writer of these lines wonders if going after, unearthing, and capturing family secrets and issues on film isn’t emotionally draining.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 29 Jan. 2026
Some viewed the discovery as a divine gift, while a local priest chastised the explorers for unearthing Satan, saying the blowout was God’s punishment.
—The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
For Patterson, getting the best out of his defenders never proved to be a problem at TCU, where he was known for unearthing underrated prospects.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
But for the brave men and women of the TSA, unearthing every strange and confusing item in passenger luggage is just another day on the job.
—Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 16 Jan. 2026
This usually means unearthing products from medicine cabinets, organizers, and drawers, and lining them up on the floor or across their bedspread.
—Grace McCarty, Glamour, 14 Jan. 2026
Below, Dyens and Miailhe speak to Deadline about the importance of unearthing human stories amid the tragedy of the World War II era.
—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 7 Jan. 2026
Yet the games themselves bore few traces of such hardship, sparkling from our screens — quite literally in the case of Donkey Kong Bananza, which saw its simian star unearthing diamond bananas.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
Noun
For Ruffier, the hardest part was filming scenes that show her unearthing and reading her old school-time diaries, full of entries about her then-teacher.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 20 Jan. 2026
The murders followed a deadly boat crash that led to the unearthing of multiple scandals involving the wealthy family, one of the state's most formidable legal dynasties.
—Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Oct. 2025
Rochana Redkar, Clinical Fellow in Paediatric Haematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, was excited to see the unearthing.
—Jennifer Hauser, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2025
The trailer also teases the unearthing of Addams family secrets.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
The temperamental Moon activates your 6th House of Work, opposing unearthing Pluto in your 12th House of Solitude and highlighting the need to protect your energy.
—Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2026
The writer of these lines wonders if going after, unearthing, and capturing family secrets and issues on film isn’t emotionally draining.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 29 Jan. 2026
Some viewed the discovery as a divine gift, while a local priest chastised the explorers for unearthing Satan, saying the blowout was God’s punishment.
—The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
For Patterson, getting the best out of his defenders never proved to be a problem at TCU, where he was known for unearthing underrated prospects.
—Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
But for the brave men and women of the TSA, unearthing every strange and confusing item in passenger luggage is just another day on the job.
—Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 16 Jan. 2026
This usually means unearthing products from medicine cabinets, organizers, and drawers, and lining them up on the floor or across their bedspread.
—Grace McCarty, Glamour, 14 Jan. 2026
Below, Dyens and Miailhe speak to Deadline about the importance of unearthing human stories amid the tragedy of the World War II era.
—Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 7 Jan. 2026
Yet the games themselves bore few traces of such hardship, sparkling from our screens — quite literally in the case of Donkey Kong Bananza, which saw its simian star unearthing diamond bananas.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unearthing
Noun
-
New discoveries always spur unconventional hypotheses; all must be ruled out.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Remains found amid search in Mexico MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities on Friday announced the discovery of bodies and remains in the northwestern state of Sinaloa in an area of an ongoing search for 10 missing workers from a Canadian gold and silver mine.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In 2021, Carolyn Dunn Moudy was identified as the woman whose body Davie Police found floating in a canal in 1975 after exhuming her body from Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens cemetery in Davie in 2019.—
Angie DiMichele,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Jan. 2026
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Gein admitted to exhuming the corpses and using the skin to recreate and become his mother, who died of a stroke in 1945.—
Nicole Acosta,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Because diets were measured about eight years after diagnosis, the results may mostly reflect people who survived long enough to be included, which could skew the findings.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
6 Feb. 2026
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The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unearthing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unearthing. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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