1
as in voice
an act, process, or means of putting something into words
the poem is his expression of his grief upon the loss of his beloved wife
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2
as in look
facial appearance regarded as an indication of mood or feeling
we could tell by the fans' expressions that the Chicago Cubs had lost again
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3
as in term
a pronounceable series of letters having a distinct meaning especially in a particular field
the expression "John Doe" is used in legal proceedings to refer to a person whose actual name is either unknown or being withheld from the public
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4
as in phrase
a sequence of words having a specific meaning
the popular expression "raining cats and dogs" is meaningless in other languages
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of expression
But for a man of few words in front of an audience, his music is ripe with satire and vulnerability, and his live performance is riddled with excessive performances of emotion, from his pained facial expressions, hand gestures and smooth dance moves.
—
Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
Over the last 45 days, more than 620 million people – nearly a third of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population - have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj, in a spectacle of color and expression of faith.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025
Russia's Putin, meanwhile, has remained in power for decades through deepening crackdowns on free expression and increasingly illegitimate elections, according to international experts.
—Chantal Da Silva, NBC News, 24 Feb. 2025
But so are some aspects of DEI, which have also been hostile to open expression.
—Jonathan Zimmerman, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expression
Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
Over the last 45 days, more than 620 million people – nearly a third of India’s roughly 1.4 billion population - have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela, or the festival of the Sacred Pitcher, on the riverbanks in the city of Prayagraj, in a spectacle of color and expression of faith.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025
Russia's Putin, meanwhile, has remained in power for decades through deepening crackdowns on free expression and increasingly illegitimate elections, according to international experts.
—Chantal Da Silva, NBC News, 24 Feb. 2025
But so are some aspects of DEI, which have also been hostile to open expression.
—Jonathan Zimmerman, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expression
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expression
Noun
-
Rate your 'Film of the Year': Join our Movie Meter panel and make your voice heard!—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
1 Mar. 2025
-
In 2018, Andrews lent her voice to a character in Aquaman.—
Zoey Lyttle,
People.com,
1 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The royal’s first LFW look—a silky dressing-gown style dress by Bellville Sassoon—showed a bright twenty-something whose eyes lit up at clothing rails, according to her stylist Anna Harvey.—
Alice Newbold,
Vogue,
22 Feb. 2025
-
Here’s a look at the hostages returned since the latest ceasefire began: Omer Wenkert, 23 Wenkert, a restaurant manager known for his love of dancing and sports, was taken captive from the Nova music festival in southern Israel.—
ASSOCIATED PRESS,
TIME,
22 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
In terms of their preferred habitats, Paoli and Breeggemann both point out that pike are more at home in wetlands and shallower lakes with heavy vegetation.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
20 Feb. 2025
-
Any new mandate requiring that many people to comply within 30 days surely would have generated widespread coverage by legitimate media outlets, and the terms of the testing program would have been made public through official government channels.—
Joedy McCreary,
USA TODAY,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
So using Google Trends, Ayers and his colleagues looked at how often people in the U.S. were searching online using phrases such as gambling and addiction, addict, anonymous, or hotline.—
Simon Spichak,
Health,
1 Mar. 2025
-
The video playfully imitates the exaggerated intonations and repetitive phrases often heard in an influencer's product placement videos.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Beyond the portability factor, stick foundations' solid, creamy formulation tends to be more foolproof than liquid formulas, which are more prone to creasing and caking.—
Angela Trakoshis,
Allure,
24 Feb. 2025
-
Therefore, the key to maximizing bioavailability is a drug’s formulation, which affects how well it is absorbed, distributed, and utilized by the body.—
Paul McClure
February 13,
New Atlas,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
And Aguirre sees the faces of people who aren’t there, too.—
Catherine E. Shoichet,
CNN,
20 Feb. 2025
-
Celebrate every baby milestone, adorable laugh, and that undeniably cute face with a name off this list.—
Stephanie Kasulka,
Parents,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Waiting for Vance beneath a low arch, in front of a gate that had the words arbeit macht frei set into its ironwork, was Abba Naor, a survivor of the camp.—
Massimo Calabresi/Dachau,
TIME,
22 Feb. 2025
-
Many other huge companies have never used either word over that span.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
22 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
While often used sarcastically to mock true believers, the idiom reflects Italy’s enduring ambiguity toward Fascism, even 80 years after its fall.—
Mattia Ferraresi,
airmail.news,
1 Feb. 2025
-
Knowing the correct four-word idioms is a sign of education.—
Rachel Chang,
Travel + Leisure,
4 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Expression.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expression. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
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