SWEEPS Synonyms: 91 Similar and Opposite Words

sweeps 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of sweep

as in flows

to move or proceed smoothly and readily the wind swept across the plain without respite

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in curves

to turn away from a straight line or course from this point the mountain range sweeps to the northeast and extends into the next state

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

straightens

sweeps

2 of 2

noun

plural of sweep

as in confines

an area over which activity, capacity, or influence extends Mrs. Griswold has been a teacher for so long that the sweep of her influence extends across three generations of the townspeople

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 sweeps

Verb

On the other hand, the Ni-Co alloy sweeps in to combine the freed hydrogen ions into usable fuel gas. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026 If neither team sweeps the series, up to three additional games will be played. — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 14 Oct. 2026 Like Dillane’s Willoughby, wily and louche, who quite literally sweeps Marianne off her injured foot and into a giggly, schoolyard kind of chaotic sudden romance. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026 As the star spins, the magnetic field coming out of the surface catches that wind and sweeps it up. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 9 Oct. 2026 Sign up for the newsletter When the rain does fall, Kabul’s hard, impermeable surfaces mean the water doesn’t replenish aquifers, but instead sweeps through the city as flash floods, destroying homes, killing people and rolling away. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026 Lay sweeps the little boy into her arms; the audience dabs at tears. — Joan Kron, Allure, 28 Sep. 2026 The video sweeps around a reveling fiefdom, showing everyone from peasants to dukes partying and getting it on. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026 His other hand sweeps by me and bruises into my brother’s face. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026

Noun

Yes, this was the same Brewers team that had been swept by the Dodgers in the 2025 NLCS, marking the first time in baseball history that two teams exchanged sweeps in consecutive years. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 Baumann recommends blocking access by installing door sweeps, placing steel wool around pipe penetrations, and sealing cracks in the foundation. — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 8 Oct. 2026 Chandler primarily uses his guitars to produce radar sweeps of drone, which allows Schwendener’s bass to take full responsibility for Beat’s melodies. — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026 While the three other wild card series ended in two-game sweeps, the matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies has delivered exceptional postseason drama. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 But the sweeps are still casting a chill across this rural farming region that has relied heavily on immigrant labor since the 1950s. — Kirk Siegler, NPR, 28 Sep. 2026 Postal employees worked overtime, conducting daily sweeps and all-clear checks. — Lee Moak, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026 The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, which originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of citizens and legal residents caught in Arpaio’s sweeps, celebrated the current ruling. — Yana Kunichoff, ProPublica, 18 Sep. 2026 The airy texture of the powder adds to the soft-focus effect, blurring pores and fine lines in a few quick sweeps—a no-brainer finishing touch for any makeup look. — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 17 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sweeps

Verb

The program could also be targeted rather than universal — triggered by sector-specific unemployment spikes, income level, or geography, so the money flows first to the workers AI disrupts most.

— Sarah Cannon, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
The kitchen flows to the laundry room and attached two-car garage.

— James Alexander, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of flows

Verb

Animators studied ostriches before feeding their digital movement curves into a six-axis mechanical rig carrying the performers.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Ukiah to Boonville Head southwest on Highway 253, a two-lane road that curves through a dense forest.

— Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of curves

Noun

Confining Employees To Rigid Roles As a business grows, team members with rigid, constrained scopes may stop working or supporting others outside their existing scope.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 15 Oct. 2026
These involve a cancer screening test, followed by a surgical procedure involving robotic scopes.

— Tara Molina, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of scopes

Verb

His attention drifts towards intimate details – the bare armpit, the small hollow at the base of Rafael’s neck – and the music follows him into this increasingly private, almost obsessive fascination.

— Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
Filmed largely in natural daylight, the film drifts between still, unhurried, panning shots to evoke not only the spiritual energy that keeps the temples humming but also a world in slow, gradual decay.

— Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of drifts

Noun

And even without the holodeck, genres are fluid things that often take from each other to tell stories within each other’s realms.

— Matthew Razak, Space.com, 24 Oct. 2026
The idea of treating Oregon on the same plane as some of the great fantasy realms from my youth like Narnia and Oz and Middle Earth was crazy to even think about.

— Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of realms

Noun

For the past 15 years, Ishmael Butler and his cast of collaborators have drifted further and further into the outer reaches, deconstructing and reassembling hip-hop, jazz, and kosmische conventions into sprawling, proggy rhapsodies.

— Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
But, in the past few years, Namibia has seen a lot of positive conservation momentum, with these northwest reaches acting as a bellwether.

— Samantha Falewée, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of reaches

Noun

The current design conversation is reframing them as intentional styling tools, which should push manufacturers toward better fabrics, cleaner fits and broader color ranges.

— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026
To his point, expanding size ranges does involve investment in pattern-making, grading, sampling, production, and inventory planning.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2026