GOVERNS Synonyms: 98 Similar and Opposite Words

governs

verb

present tense third-person singular of govern

as in rules

to exercise authority or power over the president is elected in order to govern the country, not to follow public opinion polls

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Relevance

as in regulates

to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression) you need to govern your speech and be able to communicate your outrage without resorting to profanity

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in operates

to look after and make decisions about the company's finances are governed by its chief financial officer

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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 governs In the order of operations that now governs Silicon Valley — and increasingly the world — speed to success was the only metric that mattered. —

Big Think, 1 May 2026 The league’s collective bargaining agreement strictly governs rookie contracts, from structure to value. —

Daniel Popper, New York Times, 1 May 2026 The hormone then travels to the locus coeruleus, a cluster of neurons in the brainstem that governs arousal. —

Allison Palmer, Kansas City Star, 29 Apr. 2026 The organizations argued that in reconstituting a federal vaccine advisory committee and changing the childhood vaccine schedule, Kennedy’s health department violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs how federal agencies consider and implement policy changes. —

Anil Oza, STAT, 29 Apr. 2026 OpenAI maintained that a nonprofit still governs its mission. —

Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Apr. 2026 Instead, the president governs by executive orders, emergency decrees, and extortionate transactions, using his power to reward his friends and punish his enemies. —

Gregg Nunziata, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026 The technocrats, many of whom are career officials from the Palestinian Authority that governs parts of the occupied West Bank, have instead spent their time in meetings, making policy plans for their eventual return to the Gaza Strip and its mounting humanitarian challenges. —

Matt Bradley, NBC news, 25 Apr. 2026 Copyright policy governs access to all forms of media and determines how knowledge is constructed and shared. —

Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for governs

Verb

In a game-changing shake-up of the eligibility rules for the non-English languagecategory, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has expanded the options for submission.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 May 2026
If the jury rules in his favor, a second phase of the case would determine any financial damages.

— Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 30 Apr. 2026