1
as in to speak
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
an English professor who loves to descant on his beloved Shakespeare
Synonyms & Similar Words
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variants
also discant
1
as in chorus
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in observation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of descant
Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
Noun
Bart, too idiosyncratic merely to copy the idiosyncrasies of the movie’s Christopher Lloyd, instead adds a descant of commentary atop them, sometimes seeming to extemporize a different show entirely.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for descant
Verb
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Days after Donna wrapped her scenes, King and Hynes spoke with PEOPLE on set and gushed over the Kelce matriarch's warm presence.Daniela Avila, People.com, 30 Nov. 2024
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In Kentucky, Amazon employees who spoke to ABC News alleged that the company was leading a union-busting campaign to discourage employees from organizing.Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 29 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The White House on Monday joined city, state and Jewish community leaders in Ohio condemning a small group who marched through Columbus on Saturday chanting racial slurs and white nationalist slogans while carrying Nazi flags.Patrick Smith, NBC News, 18 Nov. 2024
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More:Israeli soccer fans attacked in incident linked to antisemitism in Amsterdam After Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag and chanted racist slogans, violence overtook the city's downtown.Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY, 13 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Or the hushed atmosphere of Le Coucou, where flickering candles join a chorus of custom pewtered-steel chandeliers and cast-glass sconces….Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 19 Nov. 2024
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Back at the saucy-exposition meeting room, our big-wig Greek chorus of Mullins, Mason, and Hollar express concern over the convenience of their new asset’s cover story and point out the historical stickiness of CIA operations moving drugs across the border.Andy Andersen, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Only 75% of annual observations of the giant planet by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope between 1994 and 2022 reveal them.Jamie Carter, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
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The South Korean outpost is in an observation tower on the border between the two nations.Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 30 Nov. 2024
Verb
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They even get lectured by parents for breaking rules — but that doesn't stop them from finding a spaceship buried in the nearby woods.Christian Holub, EW.com, 1 Nov. 2024
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The whole thing reads as if it is being delivered by someone looking down over their glasses with their hands on their hips like a parent lecturing a child.Roger Valdez, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Iván Cornejo and Junior H will sing for Música Mexicana in the desert.Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024
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The deliberateness of Domingo’s speech is his signature quality as an actor: Every consonant is crisp and every vowel is sung, making every word feel carefully chosen.Selome Hailu, Variety, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Repetition with fidelity led, with the aid of print, to longer organized forms such as the motet, a vocal music composition, and the conductus, a Latin song with a rhythmic structure.Lynn Whidden, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
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According to Francisco, the composers represented no less than 30 print collections of solo songs, cantatas, motets, polyphonic works, settings for psalms and masses, a magnificat, a vespers service, a dozen sonatas, and scores for nine operas and other staged works.Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
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Firstly, prices for gold and silver have been rising this year, driven by easing inflation, uncertain remarks by the Fed, and geopolitical concerns given the ongoing wars between Russia - Ukraine.Trefis Team, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
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Democrats and at least two Florida Republicans, including Sen. Rick Scott, swiftly condemned Hinchcliffe’s remarks about Puerto Rico.Matthew Crowley, Louis Jacobson, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near descant
Cite this Entry
“Descant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descant. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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