as in state
a body of people composed of one or more nationalities usually with its own territory and government
laws that will benefit all the citizens of the commonwealth
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Recent Examples of commonwealth
Former President Barack Obama is calling on voters in Virginia to support a ballot measure this spring that would change the commonwealth's constitution and cause new congressional district boundaries benefiting Democrats to be used in this fall's midterm elections.
—
Hunter Woodall, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
The final makeup of Virginia’s state legislature is still unknown three months after the general election as a slew of appointments by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) triggers a domino effect of special races across the commonwealth.
—Kendall Staton, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2026
This is also the difference between government and the larger idea of governance, which taps the energies and talents of whole communities for building the commonwealth, a reframing of democracy championed by groups like the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
—Harry Boyte, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2026
This fictional town is set in the same state (also a commonwealth) in which America’s early immigrants from England based their first permanent settlement in 1607.
—J. D. Biersdorfer, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for commonwealth
Hunter Woodall, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
The final makeup of Virginia’s state legislature is still unknown three months after the general election as a slew of appointments by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) triggers a domino effect of special races across the commonwealth.
—Kendall Staton, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2026
This is also the difference between government and the larger idea of governance, which taps the energies and talents of whole communities for building the commonwealth, a reframing of democracy championed by groups like the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
—Harry Boyte, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2026
This fictional town is set in the same state (also a commonwealth) in which America’s early immigrants from England based their first permanent settlement in 1607.
—J. D. Biersdorfer, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for commonwealth
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonwealth
Noun
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So the weight of the state was on again their shoulders when the women’s team started off against Notre Dame Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas, and the men’s took the floor in the nation’s capital against Duke.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
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Could Iran end up like Libya, where a NATO air campaign in 2011 helped topple a decades-old dictatorship, but paved the way for the disintegration of the Libyan state into a thicket of rival factions and warring militias?—
Ishaan Tharoor,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Coordinator Luis Cortez says Brazil's program holds unique advantages unmatched by other nations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
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Brilliant, strong, visionary, a far different approach to governing as that nation’s first woman leader.—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That decade started with the 1973 oil embargo by Arab countries who were members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, and ended with the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which many attribute to helping end Jimmy Carter's presidency.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
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And both reckon with the extent to which historical ignorance and the calculated distortion of the past threaten the foundation on which our country was built.—
Francine Prose,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Commonwealth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonwealth. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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