was

verb

Definition of wasnext
past tense of be
1
as in lived
to have life stories that begin with the familiar line "once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stood
to occupy a place or location we'll be there waiting for you

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in ranked
to take or have a certain position within a group arranged in vertical classes our school's football team is first in its division

Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in happened
to take place the party is next Saturday

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for was
  1. happened
  2. existed
  3. sat
  4. placed
  5. came
  6. ruled
  7. occurred
Verb
  • The incident happened Wednesday on a flight from Miami to Charlotte, North Carolina.
    Brie Stimson, Fox News, 5 Oct. 2024
  • Advertisement What happened in court?
    Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of happened
Verb
  • In that case, too, the final agreement wasn’t over whether their work could ever be manipulated by AI—special effects have existed in movies for a long time, after all—but whether the creator has an informed say in it.
    Jenn Brice, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2024
  • The data existed in the community; it was just locked away from management.
    Andrew Binns, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of existed
Verb
  • Customers sat at tables for long stretches of time, eating course after course of unlimited shrimp.
    Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Well, actually … On Thursday, Johnson sat two seats over from his new coach for a television interview about their team.
    Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of sat
Verb
  • Focus was also placed on risk factors relating to climate change and environmental impacts.
    Jon McGowan, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Due to a lack of regulatory oversight, the reports were inconsistent and were little more than marketing materials to be placed on a company’s website.
    Jon McGowan, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of placed
Verb
  • The decision by Price’s office to file charges in Monk’s death came just days after a landslide election that saw Price become the first district attorney in the county’s history to be recalled from office.
    Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 16 Nov. 2024
  • One of the best aspects of the base Diablo 4 campaign, against all odds, was its story thanks to its superstar villain Lilith, arguably more engaging than any entity that came before, Diablo himself included.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of came
Verb
  • His death was recently ruled an accidental drug overdose according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
    Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Her death was ruled a homicide.
    Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of ruled
Verb
  • Those results have occurred even as Dudamel has made a huge effort to foster contemporary composition (typically not an old-school orchestra subscriber’s favorite programming), commissioning music from composers around the world.
    Leila Cobo, Billboard, 4 Oct. 2024
  • His most recent flare occurred this summer.
    Carol Schram, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
Definition of occurred
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near was

wary

was

was friends with

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Was.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/was. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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More from Merriam-Webster on was

Nglish: Translation of was for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of was for Arabic Speakers

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