default 1 of 2

as in negligence
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action a default in the repayment of a bank loan

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

default

2 of 2

verb

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 default
Noun
Rather than default to focusing attention on your phone, try turning off its volume or setting it to airplane mode. Linda R. Tropp, The Conversation, 21 May 2025 The participants are not just revealing this to strangers who make up the bulk of the show’s viewership, but also, by default, to potentially gossipy friends, neighbors, colleagues and professional acquaintances. Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2025
Verb
The federal student loan program is now in catastrophic failure, where two-thirds of all borrowers cannot even make payments, and more than half are likely to default. Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025 The country had defaulted on its debt two years earlier. Andrew Ryvkin, The Atlantic, 6 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for default
Recent Examples of Synonyms for default
Noun
  • Wyden is demanding the public release of an unclassified 2022 report that allegedly outlines years of cybersecurity negligence by major U.S. telecom companies.
    Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 31 May 2025
  • Fowler could not determine whether this was the result of negligence or an operation with malicious intent.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 31 May 2025
Verb
  • Get best-in-class reporting that's too important to ignore for just $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year.
    Louryn Strampe, Wired News, 24 May 2025
  • Despite California having the Public Records Act and existing case law that bolsters the public’s right to know, Olson said that bureaucrats in many public institutions ignore the case law.
    Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 23 May 2025
Noun
  • Building failures, from malfunctioning boilers and coolers to plumbing and roof leaks, are increasingly occurring, some of them during high-profile medical and tech conventions, the most recent just a couple of months ago.
    Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2025
  • The failure to adequately cover Biden’s decline points to a broader breakdown that has a simple explanation.
    Becket Adams, National Review, 25 May 2025
Verb
  • Under President Jair Bolsonaro, the prior government allowed for rapid deforestation in exchange for quick economic gain and disregarded the global push for climate action.
    Justin Worland, Time, 23 May 2025
  • Scientific research must be funded, but integrity matters and UCSD must face real consequences for disregarding the law and failing its students.
    Letters To The Editor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2025
Noun
  • In 2014, she was legally removed from her mother’s custody following reports of neglect.
    Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 24 May 2025
  • The resulting breakdown is one of the series' most painful moments, with Pacey begging for answers to a lifetime of neglect.
    Jen Juneau, People.com, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • Vance’s account of this dispute conveniently inflates the evidence of Abrego Garcia’s alleged membership in the MS-13 gang and omits the U.S. government’s responsibility for returning him to El Salvador.
    Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 25 May 2025
  • Some Leaders Have Started Eliminating The Pre-Meeting Chit-Chat Executives now use a direct communication approach, which omits all small talk.
    Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • The grates were designed to stay in place when passed over by snowplows.
    Noël Fletcher, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
  • Shannon Crenshaw, the P.E. teacher, stood there with a football on his hip, watching as his fifth-graders kept passing over the boy who was different.
    Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • Aware of the ongoing discourse around Joey Bada$$’s comments—which some took as slighting the West Coast’s current success—Soul stepped up with a diplomatic but direct verse.
    Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 14 May 2025
  • No one feels slighted that a title won’t be on the line in a WrestleMania main event.
    Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Default.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/default. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.

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