measure up (to)

verb

Definition of measure up (to)next
as in to compare (with)
to come near or nearer to in character or quality he always worried about measuring up to his older brother

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for measure up (to)
  1. approximate
  2. reflect
  3. approach
  4. match
Verb
  • True, Ishiguro’s 2021 sci-fi novel was prescient in anticipating a loneliness epidemic that would put us under the thrall of machines programmed to approximate human conversation.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026
  • What is missing is not scale, but structure—held explicitly, revisable and doing the work statistics has been asked to approximate.
    — Charles Yeomans, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of approximate
Verb
  • The music as a whole seems to reflect all of this moment-to-moment action at a larger structural level, shifting from one overlapping movement to the next according to the same fractal geometry that governs the beat.
    — Andy Cush, Pitchfork, 31 Oct. 2026
  • When the two mix, the gas glows red, and the blue haze comes from light reflecting off space dust.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of reflect
Verb
  • Over time, the orbit of the pair can decay, the duo slowly approaching one another.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The likelihood of such a transition depends on how quickly an electron approaches the energy gap.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of approach
Verb
  • By running her streak to six consecutive games with at least three blocks, Stokes matched the WNBA postseason record set by Lisa Leslie in 2003.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Investigators swabbed the home for DNA, and in 2019 developed a profile that matched Pollard, court records show.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of match
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.

Browse Nearby Words

measure (up)
measure up (to)
measuring
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Cite this Entry

“Measure up (to).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/measure%20up%20%28to%29. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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