describes

verb

present tense third-person singular of describe
1
as in depicts
to give a representation or account of in words he tried to describe the dream he had last night as accurately as he could

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tells
to give an oral or written account of in some detail a biography of Washington that describes the decisive Battle of Yorktown at great length

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3
as in characterizes
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group how would you describe the Inupiat people you encountered in Alaska?

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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 describes The company describes its structure as an inverted pyramid, with store workers at the top. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026 Meta describes this option as permanently deleting chat history, stored files and active tasks. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026 Rich, decadent, and far from impish best describes Byredo’s Havana Tonka. — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026 The system the editorial actually describes, and that nearly 100 other countries have implemented, is not privatization. — Letters To The Editor, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026 One account describes an unusual encounter that raises questions about the object’s flight characteristics and apparent lack of detectable heat. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026 The company describes each data stream from its Buntar-3 drone—such as flight sensor data or its camera video stream—as being transmitted over separate channels to reduce the impact of one dropped stream. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026 Navy Blue, who describes himself as detail-oriented, says those considerations are what make products meaningful to him. — Christopher Claxton, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2026 Rafauli describes the penthouse at Aman Miami Beach as an evolution of his design approach, placing more emphasis on bringing together architecture, furnishings, lighting, and art rather than treating them as separate elements. — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for describes
  1. depicts
  2. tells
  3. characterizes
  4. portrays
  5. recounts
  6. defines
  7. illustrates
  8. relates
Verb
  • The three-and-a-half-foot-tall marble fragment depicts only the emperor’s torso, adorned in an elegant bronze cuirass.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The show’s take on Holmes depicts the facts to interrogate the person.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of depicts
Verb
  • The fugitive tells his underwater buddies what the humans have been doing to their kind.
    — Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
  • An organization chart tells you where authority is supposed to sit.
    — Kelvin Cheema, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of tells
Verb
  • The younger Paul’s relationship with Braunstein, however, was cold — ever since Les Paul died in 2009 of severe pneumonia complications amid what Gene characterizes as communication issues between Braunstein and the family.
    — Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Yet recent rhetoric from City Hall characterizes CARE as a success.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of characterizes
Verb
  • Guitarricadelafuente portrays Sebastián, the focus of the film’s central timeline set during the Spanish Civil War.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The spinoff, which portrays Gibbs as an up-and-comer in the early ’90s, has intimately involved Harmon as an executive producer and narrator, but not so much an on-screen presence until a present-day flash-forward story was added for season 3.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of portrays
Verb
  • Sliding behind the wheel of a side-by-side utility vehicle, Shoffner takes off across the property and recounts her life story that led her away from the farm, into nonprofit work and back home when her dad got sick.
    — Stephen Fowler, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Another document recounts an unusual sighting in Saudi Arabia in 1957.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of recounts
Verb
  • People in search of healthcare do not care which national story others wish to project onto a molecule, device, or platform, which regulatory philosophy defines it, or which flag stands behind a laboratory.
    — Ruby Wang, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The memo, which was circulated internally in September and posted to the company's website on Tuesday, revises how the company defines the role of software development engineers and managers in the age of AI.
    — Annie Palmer, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of defines
Verb
  • Listen displays album artwork and playback information, while Climate illustrates cabin airflow and seat temperature.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The record illustrates how artists can combine music, video content, and direct engagement with listeners.
    — Kaitlyn Gomez, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of illustrates
Verb
  • His interview with O’Donnell relates his story—a faulty parachute, a tough crash, a long bloody hike, and survival until he was rescued by an American plane—in a genuinely moving way.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Most of the funding gap relates specifically to weapons purchases, Zelensky said, and future financing for Ukraine could come in the form of deals for sharing technology and joint drone production.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of relates

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Cite this Entry

“Describes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/describes. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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