as in sharpened
having an edge thin enough to cut or pierce something
using a finely honed butcher knife will make cutting meat easier
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in whetted
to make sharp or sharper
honed the knife's blade to razor-like sharpness honed his crossword-puzzle skills by reading the dictionary as though it were a thrilling novel
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rubbed
to make smooth by friction
honed the edge of the axe until it was amazingly sharp
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of honed
Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026
The tech has been around for decades but has been honed over time to no longer require patients to stay awake as doctors poke around in their brains.
—Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
The conductor Charlotte Rowan, who became the group’s artistic director only a few years ago, has not merely upheld its tradition of communal exactitude but honed it to a gleam.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
The Miami Hurricanes blitzed him a lot (60 pass-rush snaps), and Scott honed this skill, learning how to disguise and time up blitzes.
—Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
The winters were too cold and snowy for the local high school to field a baseball team, but Bill, who stood 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, was a gifted outfielder and honed his skills in sandlot games during the summer.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
McMullin did not stay very long in the group, which then — as a mostly acoustic duo — honed its songwriting and stagecraft chops sufficiently to build a loyal and increasingly larger San Diego following.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
There’s a restaurant-quality flair to the dishes that’s impressive for a new lodge, no doubt honed through the team’s past stints at Chem Chem.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Apr. 2026
And many of the great watchmakers first honed their expertise in restoration workshops.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 22 Apr. 2026
Verb
As founder of Celera Genomics in 1998, Venter honed his method of decoding—whole-genome shotgun sequencing—which can rapidly sequence different parts of the genome at the same time and then uses machine learning to reassemble them in the right order.
—Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026
The tech has been around for decades but has been honed over time to no longer require patients to stay awake as doctors poke around in their brains.
—Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
The conductor Charlotte Rowan, who became the group’s artistic director only a few years ago, has not merely upheld its tradition of communal exactitude but honed it to a gleam.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
The Miami Hurricanes blitzed him a lot (60 pass-rush snaps), and Scott honed this skill, learning how to disguise and time up blitzes.
—Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
The winters were too cold and snowy for the local high school to field a baseball team, but Bill, who stood 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, was a gifted outfielder and honed his skills in sandlot games during the summer.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
McMullin did not stay very long in the group, which then — as a mostly acoustic duo — honed its songwriting and stagecraft chops sufficiently to build a loyal and increasingly larger San Diego following.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
There’s a restaurant-quality flair to the dishes that’s impressive for a new lodge, no doubt honed through the team’s past stints at Chem Chem.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Apr. 2026
And many of the great watchmakers first honed their expertise in restoration workshops.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 22 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for honed
Verb
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While country storytelling shaped her structure, Swift said emo and pop-punk music sharpened her lyrical instincts.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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But over the last decade, that intelligence has only sharpened.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Justin Brazeau skated over to the Penguins captain and rubbed the back of his noggin for good measure.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Kuroda mentioned other small incidents that rubbed him the wrong way as well.—
Robert McGreevy,
FOXNews.com,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Nikola Katic, a mountain of a defender, all elbows and sharp edges, was terrific before suffering a season-ending injury during Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup qualification win over Italy.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Three candidates are vying to lead Chula Vista, San Diego County’s second-largest city, in the June primary, with the winner set to serve a four-year term atop a City Council that has been marked in recent years by sharp partisan division.—
Walker Armstrong,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Artificial intelligence has scraped the book’s copy and polished its own words to seem like a real, emotional appeal.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
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Loose-fitting trousers are polished enough for the office, while their drapey fit rivals the ease of sweatpants.—
Emily Weaver,
PEOPLE,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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According to court records obtained by USA TODAY, a class action lawsuit against Wren Kitchens US subsidiary was filed alleging that the company violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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The National Religious Broadcasters association filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, asking the agency to investigate ABC.—
David Bauder,
Fortune,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Honed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/honed. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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