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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of was
There was a fireplace, wet bar, and the porch—which faced the water—was almost as large as the main space.
—
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Defense Minister Israel Katz denied there was a ceasefire in Lebanon.
—Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
Reading on my own, there was no need to engage in close reading.
—Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
There was a possibility that this one was going to be [in theaters], too.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 25 May 2026
There was, too, the matter of the animal’s teeth—or tooth.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 25 May 2026
There was Busch’s wife, Samantha.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 May 2026
Then there was the unsolved 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, found dead in the road 10 miles from the Murdaugh home.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2026
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Defense Minister Israel Katz denied there was a ceasefire in Lebanon.
—Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
Reading on my own, there was no need to engage in close reading.
—Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
There was a possibility that this one was going to be [in theaters], too.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 25 May 2026
There was, too, the matter of the animal’s teeth—or tooth.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 25 May 2026
There was Busch’s wife, Samantha.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 May 2026
Then there was the unsolved 2015 death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, found dead in the road 10 miles from the Murdaugh home.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for was
Verb
-
Game 1 of the NBA Finals lived up to all the hype with the New York Knicks outlasting the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 at the Frost Bank Center on Wednesday.—
Jacob Lev,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
-
Game 1 lived up to the billing thanks to a dynamite performance from its biggest star, Jalen Brunson.—
Alejandro Avila,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
Once everyone got inside the event center Tuesday evening, a multigenerational group of people stood and sat in the aisles surrounding rows of chairs, where older attendees took priority.—
Rachel Royster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 June 2026
-
Clark then stood from the bench and was replaced in the lineup by rookie Raven Johnson.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
In a survey of PE firms and their institutional investors this month by consulting firm Campbell Lutyens, investors ranked their appetite for LNG projects midway down a list of 20 energy subsectors, in between biogas and carbon capture.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
28 May 2026
-
The website also ranked the best places to live in Kansas, with three Kansas City-area cities making the list.—
Zuri Primos
May 28,
Kansas City Star,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
The incident happened during a peaceful ceasefire rally outside the South San Francisco Public Library on April 10, 2024, prosecutors said.—
Jason Green,
Mercury News,
29 May 2026
-
The shooting happened on a playground at Pennsylvania Avenue and Dolphin Street next to Templeton Elementary School in the Upton community.—
Mike Hellgren,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
Many experts warned that these capabilities existed beforehand, but hackers could use Mythos to expose software vulnerabilities more quickly.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
2 June 2026
-
The rules existed for a reason Each of the requirements now on the chopping block was built for some layer of investor protections.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
2 June 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
-
Each person held their sarongs in different ways, over both shoulders or draped on one, around their necks, balled up in a fist, placed neatly on a lap.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2026
-
Next week’s launch would have been only New Glenn’s fourth, after its third flight on April 19 placed a satellite for the company AST SpaceMobile in an orbit that was lower than planned because of a malfunction of the rocket’s second stage.—
Lee Billings,
Scientific American,
29 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 4 Jun. 2026.
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