FLATTENS Synonyms: 116 Similar and Opposite Words

flattens

verb

present tense third-person singular of flatten

as in smooths

to make free from breaks, curves, or bumps flattened out the wrinkled paper before attempting to trace the pattern

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in overcomes

to defeat by a large margin if you don't understand the rules, you're going to get flattened when you try to play

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 flattens Chronic stress flattens that pattern, and consistent exercise helps restore it. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026 The girls do their solos, and Ericka flattens Paulina like a tractor mowing down a patch of dandelions. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2026 The balanced solvent treatment reshapes and flattens the top layer, while the chloride addition forces the bromide and iodide components to crystallize at the same time. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026 Apart from the opening show at Cardiff, the edit from George Cragg and Martina Zamolo largely flattens the footage out into homogeneous numbers that capture both the artists’ performance and the audience’s reaction. — Marshall Shaffer, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026 On the question of whether snapping a selfie flattens the experience, Loyer has never thought so. — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026 The ScanMax 320 automatically flattens curved book pages digitally, ensuring clean, flat text without requiring you to tear pages out or manually edit them. — New Atlas, 18 Aug. 2026 That notion flattens a complex record and turns history into a morality play of angels and demons. — Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026 When every review begins with something real that can be modified in the room, the layers that existed to summarize and relay lose their function, and the structure flattens without a reorganization memo. — Andrew Sorohan, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flattens

Verb

Massaging it into the scalp promotes growth (stimulating blood flow to the area is how the magic happens), while applying it through the lengths reduces breakage and smoothes each strand for a silky, frizz-free finish.

— Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 23 Oct. 2026
All of this pillow talk smooths Kate’s path to selling Hal on her idea of extracting the bodies from the Russian sub.

— Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of smooths

Verb

And that’s a lot of energy to shed as a vehicle comes blaring back into Earth’s thick atmosphere, a process that typically annihilates objects returning from space unless they are precisely designed to survive the trip.

— Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 16 July 2026
Matter is so dominant in our universe that any antimatter typically encounters matter quickly and annihilates.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 15 June 2026

Definition of annihilates

Verb

The circumstances are objectively potent — but Udofia smothers them in such a barrage of cutesiness and self-conscious signalling that a wall rises between us and the play.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Instead, City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma rushes out and smothers the ball.

— Jon Mackenzie, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of smothers

Verb

The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber provides exceptional grip, though throws-up plenty of road noise.

— Howard Walker, Robb Report, 23 Oct. 2026
Welcome to a Thursday Nightcaps — the one where LPGA star Charley Hull throws her bikini in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit ring for the first time.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of throws

Verb

The tests could easily do the opposite, as people with results suggesting cancer require follow-up testing that overwhelms our healthcare system, potentially delaying diagnoses for people with cancer.

— Torie Bosch, STAT, 24 Oct. 2026
Histamine intolerance is when histamine from food overwhelms the body’s ability to break it down, Hwang explained.

— Lauren Finney Harden, AJC.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of overwhelms

Verb

Speaker Mike Johnson can lose two Republican votes before a third defection upsets the majority.

— Lauren Peller, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
The leader who needs to be liked will, when forced to choose, find a reason to delay the hard conversation, soften the hard feedback, wait one more week on the call that upsets someone whose support feels useful today.

— Mohamed AL Hashemi, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of upsets

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flattening

flattens

flatter

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“Flattens.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flattens. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of flattens

verb

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