1
as in lived
to have life
stories that begin with the familiar line "once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in ranked
to take or have a certain position within a group arranged in vertical classes
our school's football team is first in its division
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in happened
to take place
the party is next Saturday
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of was
There was an active shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
—
Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 19 May 2026
In our family, my father was usually the one driving, but there was never any doubt who was really setting our direction.
—Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
That foundation meant that when the mainstream moment arrived, there was already a real community ready to activate and amplify it.
—Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
There was no mention of the letter at Monday’s premiere which was attended by Jérôme Seydoux, the formidable head of French mini-major Pathé who is also Seydoux’s grandfather, and Ardavan Safaee, president of Pathé Films, which is a producer on the film.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 18 May 2026
Alongside the increases in prices over the past several months, there was a significant shift in speculator positions.
—Sj Guest Editorial, Footwear News, 18 May 2026
There was no time to wait for a veterinarian, police told MDR, as the area was busy with people.
—Frank Andrews, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Surely there was a time earlier in your life when your financial picture wasn’t so stable.
—R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2026
There was another problem, too.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 19 May 2026
In our family, my father was usually the one driving, but there was never any doubt who was really setting our direction.
—Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
That foundation meant that when the mainstream moment arrived, there was already a real community ready to activate and amplify it.
—Olivia Shalhoup, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
There was no mention of the letter at Monday’s premiere which was attended by Jérôme Seydoux, the formidable head of French mini-major Pathé who is also Seydoux’s grandfather, and Ardavan Safaee, president of Pathé Films, which is a producer on the film.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 18 May 2026
Alongside the increases in prices over the past several months, there was a significant shift in speculator positions.
—Sj Guest Editorial, Footwear News, 18 May 2026
There was no time to wait for a veterinarian, police told MDR, as the area was busy with people.
—Frank Andrews, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Surely there was a time earlier in your life when your financial picture wasn’t so stable.
—R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2026
There was another problem, too.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for was
Verb
-
Vasquez lived at a different address in Norwood.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
13 May 2026
-
Chachapoyas, Peru In the mountains of northern Peru sits Chachapoyas, a city named in honor of the civilization that lived here from 800 BCE to 1470.—
Catherine Garcia,
TheWeek,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
The Golden Knights carried play for much of the first period, but Dostal stood tall in net to hold the Ducks in it.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
13 May 2026
-
The opening up of the submission process for the category has been largely applauded by the international film community, especially dissident filmmakers at odds with their governments who never stood a stand chance of representing their countries.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Multiple studies in 2024–26 have ranked San Jose as the least affordable housing market in the United States, based on comparisons of home prices to local incomes.—
James Ward,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
-
Seahawks, Week 7 Based on the all-encompassing DVOA metrics, Seattle finished last season ranked first in overall, pass and run defense.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Except that is not what happened.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
-
Police said the fatal confrontation happened next to a weed truck parked across from a gas station.—
Kerry Burke,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
Revenue targets existed, but there was little infrastructure for measuring the activities that would actually drive those numbers.—
Shivaas Gulati,
Sportico.com,
12 May 2026
-
Barbra Streisand broke through glass ceilings before the expression even existed.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Levi Jones, a 33-year-old business owner, pulled up to Sacred Eye Tattoos in Hollywood last week and sat for eight hours getting a photorealistic black-and-white portrait of Mangione on his leg.—
Amanda Rosa,
Orlando Sentinel,
24 Dec. 2024
-
The birthday boy and his big sister Sterling Skye, 3, each sat between one of their parents’ laps.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
24 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
Additional images showed an unknown number of snakes curled on top of one another inside a large crate that was placed in the back of an officer’s vehicle.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
-
However, StyleCaster may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
That came just a few days after news broke that Palantir had secured a $10 billion contract from the US Army over the next decade.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
-
All five of Bednar’s outs came via strikeout on Wednesday.—
Brendan Kuty,
New York Times,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Was.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/was. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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