1
as in depicting
to give a representation or account of in words
he tried to describe the dream he had last night as accurately as he could
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in telling
to give an oral or written account of in some detail
a biography of Washington that describes the decisive Battle of Yorktown at great length
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in characterizing
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group
how would you describe the Inupiat people you encountered in Alaska?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of describing
But that’s too pat a way of describing something so slippery and alive.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2025
While that excitement still defines the event, the phrase may work better today describing the frenzy of fans trying to get to the actual games.
—Demarco Williams, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
In describing the upcoming record, Jackson says the lyrics are more engaging this time compared to her previous album.
—David Chiu, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
In Roblox, users can generate entire environments, characters and mechanics simply by describing their vision.
—Andrey Fadeev, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
Hadid flicks through the photos on her phone, showing me scenes of Malik holding Khai on the first day of pre-K, and describing the innate musicality Khai gets from her father.
—Chloe Schama, Vogue, 11 Mar. 2025
Scientifically describing a new species can take several years, and many of the previously unknown organisms revealed by Ocean Census have not yet been formally named, Taylor said.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Which is more accurate in describing how the hurler actually pitched?
—Michael Salfino, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025
Lavrov agreed with Rubio’s sentiments, describing the conversation as productive.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 18 Feb. 2025
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2025
While that excitement still defines the event, the phrase may work better today describing the frenzy of fans trying to get to the actual games.
—Demarco Williams, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
In describing the upcoming record, Jackson says the lyrics are more engaging this time compared to her previous album.
—David Chiu, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
In Roblox, users can generate entire environments, characters and mechanics simply by describing their vision.
—Andrey Fadeev, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
Hadid flicks through the photos on her phone, showing me scenes of Malik holding Khai on the first day of pre-K, and describing the innate musicality Khai gets from her father.
—Chloe Schama, Vogue, 11 Mar. 2025
Scientifically describing a new species can take several years, and many of the previously unknown organisms revealed by Ocean Census have not yet been formally named, Taylor said.
—Katie Hunt, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Which is more accurate in describing how the hurler actually pitched?
—Michael Salfino, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025
Lavrov agreed with Rubio’s sentiments, describing the conversation as productive.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 18 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for describing
Verb
-
The education campaign featured online illustrations depicting a Black mother, child and teenager suffering from the consequences of the mother’s marijuana usage.—
Elizabeth Hernandez,
The Denver Post,
20 Mar. 2025
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It is further brought to life on the Hulu adaptation of the same name, depicting a barren, stifling land of muted colors and brutal conditions.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
EW.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Before the memoir was published, Sheila was talking with her editor, Douglas Gibson, who was Alice’s Canadian editor and publisher, and surprised herself by telling him about Andrea and Gerry.—
Rachel Aviv,
The New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2024
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By some accounts, this Santa Tracker initiative kicked off by complete accident in 1955, when a Colorado Springs Sears printed a newspaper announcement telling children to call a certain phone number to chat with Santa.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
23 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
Grande has been open about the emotional journey of portraying Glinda, which had been her dream role throughout her career.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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Farrar, portraying the observant and multilingual Demetrius, spoke about the invaluable experience of watching Davis and Anderson work.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In its latest action addressing broader issues, the El Cajon City Council on Tuesday voted against the state bill that would change rules about justifiable homicide and unanimously adopted a resolution defining antisemitism and promoting nondiscrimination of all residents.—
Gary Warth,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Mar. 2025
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Brian Tyree Henry delivers a career-defining performance in Dope Thief.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
30 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The Advent wreath is a circular garland of evergreen branches representing eternity.—
Tom Zirpoli,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Dec. 2024
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About 170 Starbucks stores did not open Tuesday as planned, representing about 2% of stores nationwide, company spokesperson Phil Gee told IndyStar in a statement.—
Alysa Guffey,
The Indianapolis Star,
24 Dec. 2024
Verb
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This means that the color rendering under a light source should be as natural as possible compared to daylight.—
Desireé Oostland,
Vogue,
31 Dec. 2024
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Some celebrities have been accused of operating pump-and-dump schemes with their coins, using their social media following to artificially inflate the value of these coins before cashing in their large holdings and rendering the coins worthless.—
Ben Dandridge-Lemco,
Rolling Stone,
29 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Zooming with Taylor led to Jennifer Aniston narrating the film as Melody’s inner voice.—
Fred Topel,
Deadline,
5 Apr. 2025
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Although her onscreen counterpart is undeclared, Davis endorsed Harris for president in November, narrating the former Democratic vice president’s ‘Mother‘ campaign video.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
5 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Describing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/describing. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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