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
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variants
also discant
1
as in chorus
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in observation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples 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
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To show the robot in action, Honda then screened a short video that showed a driver speaking intimately with the Her-like system that lives inside her electric car, with the chatbot embodied by a Siri-like animation on the dash.Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 10 Jan. 2025
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On Tuesday, the day before his attorneys filed their emergency appeal in the high court, Trump arranged to speak with Alito about one of his former clerks.David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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This is personal for you, some of these rioters in your office, chanting your name.CBS News, CBS News, 5 Jan. 2025
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Thousands of police officers had gathered Friday at the president’s residence, forming a perimeter around the pro-Yoon demonstrators who waved South Korean and American flags and chanted slogans.Kim Tong-Hyung, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2025
Noun
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For example, the synth hook in the intro melodically foreshadows lines two and four of the chorus vocal melody.Gary Trust, Billboard, 10 Jan. 2025
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Doorbells tend to prompt dogs to bark, and a chorus of barking had the potential to throw off the opposing New Orleans Pelicans during trips to the free-throw line.Josh Robbins, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The desert's arid climate and high altitude ensure clear skies for over 300 nights a year, with minimal light pollution, allowing the best possible conditions for the observation of the cosmos from the ground.Jess Thomson, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
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The report includes the observation that civil discourse is critical to colleges and universities.Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Buffett has been lecturing on inflation in his shareholder letters since the 1960s and his strategy has never changed (much to the advantage of his shareholders).James Berman, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
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Tucker Carlson, the Trump acolyte and former Fox News presenter, visits Moscow, where he is granted a two-hour interview with Vladimir Putin, most of which consists of Carlson being lectured on Russian history.The Week UK, theweek, 25 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The next day, while the country was still overcome by grief and anger, a song appeared on Indian WhatsApp groups, sung by a strident female voice.Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025
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Festivities also lit up East Asian countries including Japan, China, and the Philippines, where people in the capital of Manila flocked to the streets to sing karaoke, blow horns, and indulge with whole roasted pig, Reuters reported.Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 31 Dec. 2024
Noun
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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
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Goldberg’s remarks come just one day after Billboard confirmed that Underwood would take the stage at Trump’s fast-approaching presidential inauguration, a poignant move considering that the eight-time Grammy winner has refrained from sharing her political views throughout her career.Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 14 Jan. 2025
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The remarks come as the market gains that were seen immediately following the former president’s victory back in November last year have been almost entirely wiped out .Sean Conlon, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near descant
Cite this Entry
“Descant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descant. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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