1
as in articles
a short piece of writing typically expressing a point of view
school essays on what it means to be a patriot
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2
3
as in tests
a procedure or operation carried out to resolve an uncertainty
a little homemade essay to determine the easiest way to strip the paint from the bookcase
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as in tries
to make an effort to do
he had been in gymnastics for some time before he even considered essaying that move
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of essays
Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Both have written First Opinion essays on Kennedy’s claims.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 29 Apr. 2026
Students are turning in flawless essays and problem sets, yet many can’t explain their work, a troubling sign that generative AI is replacing actual learning in higher education.
—Jocelyn Gecker, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
The essays covered topics including whether schools should require community service and whether aliens built a hill on Mars.
—Rachel Del Guidice, FOXNews.com, 28 Apr. 2026
The essays led to the arrest and trial of the Journal’s publisher, John Peter Zenger, for libel.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
Sarah Mullens’s essays have appeared in Oxford American, The Missouri Review, and other magazines.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
This is the latest edition of The Critics, our weekly roundup of critical reviews, essays, and conversations.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2026
In these essays, our columnists follow their curiosity, and explore important but not necessarily answerable scientific questions.
—Quanta Magazine, 20 Apr. 2026
Sweta Kaushal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
Here at Bauman Rare Books, for instance, is a first edition Runaway Bunny ($32k) spitting distance from a copy of Milton Friedman’s essays ($6500).
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
Both have written First Opinion essays on Kennedy’s claims.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 29 Apr. 2026
Students are turning in flawless essays and problem sets, yet many can’t explain their work, a troubling sign that generative AI is replacing actual learning in higher education.
—Jocelyn Gecker, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
The essays covered topics including whether schools should require community service and whether aliens built a hill on Mars.
—Rachel Del Guidice, FOXNews.com, 28 Apr. 2026
The essays led to the arrest and trial of the Journal’s publisher, John Peter Zenger, for libel.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
Sarah Mullens’s essays have appeared in Oxford American, The Missouri Review, and other magazines.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
This is the latest edition of The Critics, our weekly roundup of critical reviews, essays, and conversations.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2026
In these essays, our columnists follow their curiosity, and explore important but not necessarily answerable scientific questions.
—Quanta Magazine, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
In the film, Bajpayee plays the police officer while Jim Sarbh essays the role of the killer who goes by the fictional name Carl Bhojraj.
—Sweta Kaushal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for essays
Noun
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Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.—
Rob Wile,
NBC news,
28 Apr. 2026
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News articles and photos of the casual picnic enamored Americans, transforming their view of the royals as rigid and aristocratic to more down-to-earth.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Harley’s been much more noticeable in this series and, again, has excellent underlying numbers — his 23 shot attempts are second only to Heiskanen, and his nine shots on goal are second only to Robertson.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Previous attempts at extracting uranium ions have relied on a passive system in which adsorbents remain stationary and wait for uranium ions to pass through them for trapping.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Officials also found that the city had not tested its fire hydrant pressure in over 10 years despite tests being recommended every five years, Pernerewski said at the time.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2026
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Shortly thereafter, transfer and compatibility tests were conducted at Picatinny Arsenal, and approximately a dozen warheads were assembled, one of which was tested on a makeshift test range bunker, according to a press release.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Not outraged but baffled, curious Kaho tries to find out his hidden message.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The band’s life effectively changed overnight, and now — 50 years after the song’s release — Gorham, talking from his home in London between a few vape hits and interruptions from his cat, tries to unpack what the fuss was all about.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Does this mean those pop-goes-punk comp albums are coming back?—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Except then there’s the chance of being FUNNELED, placed on the rails and headed for a very specific destination, instead of the OPEN-WORLD anything-goes of traditional D&D.—
Christopher Borrelli,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The team used experiments and modeling to understand why the solution performed so well.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Apr. 2026
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In the 1930s, patients in Puerto Rico were subjected to experiments testing human tolerance to chlorine and mustard gas.—
Uzma Rentia,
STAT,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Add in Michael’s goth love interest, Star (Maria Wirries), and the musical strives to capture some of the cult appeal of the source musical, the plot of which David Hornsby and Chris Hoch’s book follows closely with one notable change.—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
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The Eurovision contest strives to put pop music before politics but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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They are measured in the reputational damage that will take years to remediate, and in the chilling effect on future endeavors intended to do good at scale.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
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Other examples of politically motivated pirate radio can be found around the world, some of them clandestinely backed by governmental intelligence agencies, but many of them existing as truly grassroots endeavors.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Essays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/essays. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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