1
as in to speak
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
an English professor who loves to descant on his beloved Shakespeare
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
variants
also discant
1
as in chorus
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in observation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of descant
Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
Noun
Bart, too idiosyncratic merely to copy the idiosyncrasies of the movie’s Christopher Lloyd, instead adds a descant of commentary atop them, sometimes seeming to extemporize a different show entirely.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for descant
Verb
-
In the continued fight for racial justice and amid reinvigorated efforts to erase Black contributions to American history, Wells would urge activists to be steadfast in speaking truth into the world and advocating relentlessly for a more racially just America.—
Amy Gais / Made by History,
TIME,
27 Feb. 2025
-
Jelly Roll returned to his Tennessee alma mater, Antioch High School, earlier this week to speak with students and staff nearly a month after the fatal shooting on campus.—
Mankaprr Conteh,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
And are all those protesters chanting on the planet of Ghorman?—
Jennifer Ouellette,
Ars Technica,
5 Mar. 2025
-
Despite needing help getting up, Irving went to the free-throw line to shoot his attempts before heading to the locker room, where MVP chants from the American Airlines Center crowd serenaded him.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Weaver Yankee said some orchestras have a chorus that performs with them from time to time, but the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus work together on a regular basis.—
Ashley Mackin Solomon,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Mar. 2025
-
American singer Elizabeth Irving performed the U.S. national anthem as a chorus of boos rained down.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This is supported by other recent Hubble observations that imaged 100 million stars in the Andromeda galaxy.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Released as a single on February 14, the song puts into words the sort of observations that can come to someone looking through the windshield on a drive through the South.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Tristan is doing a surprisingly good job at lecturing the Royal Army Veterinary Corps soldiers about taking care of mules and the like.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2025
-
The hostages forum described Moses as an expert agronomist who lectured on agriculture and helped maintain the kibbutz’s community vegetable garden.—
ASSOCIATED PRESS,
TIME,
22 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Beyond his bona fides as a broadcasting dual threat, Berry has been a frequent motivational speaker and a jazz lover who sings with his own band.—
Greg Carannante,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Mar. 2025
-
In the clip shared Wednesday (March 5), Gaga — looking low-key in a black baseball cap and T-shirt — sits at a piano in the SNL break room and openly sings observations about the comedians who filter in and out.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
5 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Her husband, my grandfather, was not only a composer who wrote liturgical music, motets, symphonies, and string quartets but also a beloved music teacher who believed that music was as crucial to the development of the mind as math.—
Stephanie H. Murray,
The Atlantic,
18 Dec. 2024
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Repetition with fidelity led, with the aid of print, to longer organized forms such as the motet, a vocal music composition, and the conductus, a Latin song with a rhythmic structure.—
Lynn Whidden,
Scientific American,
26 July 2024
Noun
-
In February 2025, Wayans went head to head with Soulja Boy after the rapper made homophobic remarks about him and transphobic remarks about his son.—
Abby Monteil,
Them,
3 Mar. 2025
-
Arya’s remarks come as each of those three chip stocks and others closed out last week’s run in negative territory.—
Sean Conlon,
CNBC,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Descant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descant. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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