1
as in diverting
to draw the attention or mind to something else
personal problems abstracted him so persistently that he struggled to keep his mind on his work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in summarizing
to make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report)
took the 135-page report and abstracted it in three short paragraphs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 abstracting
This is the gap that Latitude aims to fill by helping firms make fast and affordable international payments by using stablecoin rails while abstracting away the complexity.
—
Carlos Garcia, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
The process of abstracting huge news events into memes has become much faster.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2026
Anthropic’s bottom-up strategy differs by starting with a capable coding agent and abstracting its functionality for broader audiences rather than retrofitting assistant capabilities onto an existing platform.
—Janakiram Msv, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Over the past 12 months, AWS has continued with this strategy of abstracting AI services away from AI models.
—Jason Andersen, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025
There’s very little Dial that is not abstracting and reflecting on one issue after another.
—Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2024
Firefly’s influence in the industry is only growing, solidifying its reputation as a leader in abstracting infrastructure complexity and delivering transformative cloud asset management solutions.
—Kody Boye, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2024
Carlos Garcia, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
The process of abstracting huge news events into memes has become much faster.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2026
Anthropic’s bottom-up strategy differs by starting with a capable coding agent and abstracting its functionality for broader audiences rather than retrofitting assistant capabilities onto an existing platform.
—Janakiram Msv, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Over the past 12 months, AWS has continued with this strategy of abstracting AI services away from AI models.
—Jason Andersen, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025
There’s very little Dial that is not abstracting and reflecting on one issue after another.
—Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2024
Firefly’s influence in the industry is only growing, solidifying its reputation as a leader in abstracting infrastructure complexity and delivering transformative cloud asset management solutions.
—Kody Boye, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstracting
Verb
-
Williamson admitted to diverting $225,000 from a dormant Beccera campaign account to Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s longtime chief of staff.—
James Ward,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
-
Chipmakers are diverting capacity toward high-bandwidth memory for AI servers, which leaves thinner supply for conventional DRAM used in PCs, phones and other electronics.—
Ron Schmelzer,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
But even summarizing the first absolute banger of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival this way threatens to boil the film down to its themes and its craft, the way Kris does with the original Camp Miasma, at the cost of delving into the experience of watching it.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
14 May 2026
-
Fitbit's New Direction Won't Please Everyone The new Google Health app will be organized into tabs for Fitness, Sleep, and Health, along with a main Today section summarizing your info.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
None of the distracting political overcast stopped Hernandez from winning all three events the athlete competed in the first-round meet.—
Jackson Thompson OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
19 May 2026
-
In this case, Swift opted to let the strands of her bow hang well past her ponytail, giving the hair accessory a veil-like quality without distracting from the rest of her look.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Gavin Newsom outlining his final California budget proposal as governor on Thursday, May 14.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
-
Earlier this year, Avery Dennison released a report outlining the results of its joint initiative with European textile collection and sorting organization Texaid.—
Jennifer Bringle,
Footwear News,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abstracting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstracting. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
