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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Quanta Magazine, 13 Feb. 2026
His passion for the medium and its great artists illuminates this volume, which is shaped around a list of 100 Black films contextualized in a series of critical short essays by Clark, providing a lively and robust history of global Black filmmaking.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 11 Feb. 2026
Hoffman’s essays and criticism have appeared in the Nation, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the TLS, Raritan, Bookforum, the Boston Globe, New York Newsday, Tin House, and on the World Service of the BBC.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
For this year’s installment, Vogue partnered with the publisher 831 Stories on a collection of essays and excerpts celebrating the art of romantic fiction.
—Alexandra Romanoff, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2026
The book will also include a science fiction story by Cao, and a series of interviews and essays featuring scholars, curators, experts, including ones from the XAG team, and farmers.
—Denni Hu, Footwear News, 10 Feb. 2026
Within those two groups are several subcategories, including poetry, personal essays, comic art, mixed media and photography.
—Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 7 Feb. 2026
Amodei, known for writing lengthy essays about AI’s nature and direction, has portrayed Anthropic as being the AI company focused on safety.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
Sweta Kaushal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Noun
In these essays, our columnists follow their curiosity, and explore important but not necessarily answerable scientific questions.
—Quanta Magazine, 13 Feb. 2026
His passion for the medium and its great artists illuminates this volume, which is shaped around a list of 100 Black films contextualized in a series of critical short essays by Clark, providing a lively and robust history of global Black filmmaking.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 11 Feb. 2026
Hoffman’s essays and criticism have appeared in the Nation, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the TLS, Raritan, Bookforum, the Boston Globe, New York Newsday, Tin House, and on the World Service of the BBC.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
For this year’s installment, Vogue partnered with the publisher 831 Stories on a collection of essays and excerpts celebrating the art of romantic fiction.
—Alexandra Romanoff, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2026
The book will also include a science fiction story by Cao, and a series of interviews and essays featuring scholars, curators, experts, including ones from the XAG team, and farmers.
—Denni Hu, Footwear News, 10 Feb. 2026
Within those two groups are several subcategories, including poetry, personal essays, comic art, mixed media and photography.
—Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026
To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 7 Feb. 2026
Amodei, known for writing lengthy essays about AI’s nature and direction, has portrayed Anthropic as being the AI company focused on safety.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 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
-
Enhance your media literacy by learning the differences between news and opinion and, further, how to differentiate between advertising, news articles, letters, columns and editorials.—
Brenda Looper,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Lai, who pleaded not guilty, was convicted in December of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles.—
Kanis Leung,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Salah, who had five attempts, has failed to score in his last seven league appearances.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Minnesota made just eight of 33 three-point attempts and committed 20 turnovers while being held under 100 points for just the second time this season.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The new sunscreen achieved an SPF rating of 30 and – without the clumping particles – was visibly less whiter, as confirmed by an array of color science metric tests the team conducted.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Matrix has already completed successful flight tests near Shanghai, bringing real size and real ambition to an industry still dominated by small prototypes.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
While people tag her in dozens of videos every day, Humphrey tries to pick recreations that are authentic moments caught on camera.—
Kate Perez,
USA Today,
14 Feb. 2026
-
In this video, CNN’s Richard Quest tries his hand at funge for the very first time.—
Maureen Ohare,
CNN Money,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Choose from 21 colors, from goes-with-everything black to standout prints and textures, including holiday-ready velvet or sequins.—
Alesandra Dubin,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Meanwhile, Weaver reminded us of the coat’s versatility while wearing a goes-with-everything matte black version.—
Shea Simmons,
PEOPLE,
27 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
The evidence for this comes from a bonobo named Kanzi, who took part in three pretend tea party-style experiments conducted by two researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Now, with our vanity bruised, is the time for experiments.—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Cohen said that Harpers, which is also 100 years old this year, strives to make its customers comfortable enough to just come in and visit without necessarily buying anything.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The 57-year-old now strives for something even more elusive and meaningful than success in the nation’s top baseball conference.—
Edgar Thompson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The first of these payments was made to fund da Silva’s alternative medicine endeavors, with recurring payments of multiple thousands of dollars afterward.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Robin Greenfield has made a name for himself with attention-grabbing endeavors like wearing all of his trash for 30 days or biking across the United States on a bamboo bicycle.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Essays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/essays. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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