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
Example 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
-
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be the last to speak before the vote.—
ABC NEWS,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2025
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Instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, as former President Theodore Roosevelt once advocated, President Donald Trump has threatened to turn Canada into the 51st state, to annex Greenland from Denmark, and to forcibly displace 2 million Palestinians to create the Gaza Riviera.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Cue the Keegan Murray chants and that insatiable need for more cowbells.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
The Athletic,
21 Feb. 2025
-
Protesters gathered outside their home for weeks, chanting for justice and demanding answers, while media outlets closely followed their every move.—
Matt Robison,
Newsweek,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The song enacts her process of finding power, as her voice moves from rapid-fire chants in the verses to soaring melodies in the chorus.—
Adam Bradley D’Angelo Lovell Williams Milton David Dixon III,
New York Times,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Anthony Davis added to the chorus of criticism, while 21-time All-Star LeBron James threw Silver and the NBA braintrust a bone by expressing sympathy.—
Bennett Durando,
The Denver Post,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Keith remains to a large degree elusive, but Magaro subtly gives us insight into what drives his artistry, which is then augmented by Watts’ observations, from a critic’s P.O.V., and those of Manfred, a protective friend and professional associate with a profound respect for Jarrett’s gifts.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
16 Feb. 2025
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After the initial observations in March, a second observation campaign has been planned for May.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN,
15 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Every purchase is scrutinized — last week, I was lectured for buying a name-brand cereal.—
Anna Pulley,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Feb. 2025
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For Vance to lecture the Germans on how to govern themselves—the Germans, who rose from the traumas of Nazism to build a vibrant and enduring democracy—was inappropriate and bizarre.—
Dexter Filkins,
The New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Chalamet grabs a guitar and harmonica and sings the hits as his young Dylan rises quickly in the New York music scene and finds chemistry on and off stage with Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
21 Feb. 2025
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With guitar in hand, Sandler sings and does baby talk in the way that audiences have come to expect from his work.—
Will DiGravio,
TIME,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Her husband, my grandfather, was not only a composer who wrote liturgical music, motets, symphonies, and string quartets but also a beloved music teacher who believed that music was as crucial to the development of the mind as math.—
Stephanie H. Murray,
The Atlantic,
18 Dec. 2024
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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
Noun
-
Wednesday's remarks were his most pointed since Trump took office last month.—
Joanna Kakissis,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2025
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Zelenskyy’s remarks Wednesday came shortly before he was expected to meet with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia as part of the administration’s recent diplomatic blitz.—
Hanna Arhirova,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Descant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descant. Accessed 2 Mar. 2025.
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