as in similarity
the quality or state of having many qualities in common
the striking parallelism between the two crimes got police to thinking that they were committed by the same mastermind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 parallelism
The key is parallelism: The ideal scenario is having more than one person sitting down at the same time.
—
ArsTechnica, 31 Mar. 2026
Our hope was to use the unusual and unfortunate parallelism between our stories to start an inter-campus dialogue, and to contribute the results of that dialogue to the ongoing discourse on gun violence—and desperately needed gun control—in our communities.
—Hazlitt, 25 Feb. 2026
This parallelism may be a hint as to why spatial expressions are used widely in a social context.
—Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
This is not to defend Cook, but rather to illustrate the parallelism and hypocrisy of the rule of law being subordinated to the law of the ruler.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parallelism
ArsTechnica, 31 Mar. 2026
Our hope was to use the unusual and unfortunate parallelism between our stories to start an inter-campus dialogue, and to contribute the results of that dialogue to the ongoing discourse on gun violence—and desperately needed gun control—in our communities.
—Hazlitt, 25 Feb. 2026
This parallelism may be a hint as to why spatial expressions are used widely in a social context.
—Literary Hub, 14 Nov. 2025
This is not to defend Cook, but rather to illustrate the parallelism and hypocrisy of the rule of law being subordinated to the law of the ruler.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parallelism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parallelism
Noun
-
The similarities continued in the third period when Quinn scored the Sabres’ sixth goal on a power play, just as Demidov did in Game 5.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
-
The similarities to the book end there — at least on the surface.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
IndieWire,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
The pattern, named for its resemblance to the Greek letter Ω in the jet stream, is slowing the typical west-to-east movement of weather systems.—
Brandi D. Addison,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
-
The North American Nebula shines to the lower left of Deneb, named for its resemblance to the North American continent, while the 120-light-year-wide supernova remnant known as the Cygnus Loop glows closer to the horizon.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parallelism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parallelism. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
