as in conversation
talking or a talk between two or more people
Thomas Jefferson is said to have been able to participate in knowledgeable discourse on a breathtaking array of subjects
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in to lecture
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
the guest lecturer discoursed at some length on the long-term results of the war
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to speak
to talk as if giving an important and formal speech
grandly discoursed as though he were an expert on every subject
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of discourse
Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 8 May 2026
The existence of audience active search and ritualistic forms of consumption is also determined by contextual factors that include social stability, structural dependencies between media and other social systems, and interpersonal discourse networks.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
Alex Ross, New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2025
The cycle can become so accidentally ubiquitous that the former kids who blissfully existed outside of whatever discourses these trends or bands started in their heyday wonder now, as adults, what was so bad about them in the first place.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for discourse
Noun
What strikes me most is not any one definition of burger music but the relentless discourse around it.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 8 May 2026
The existence of audience active search and ritualistic forms of consumption is also determined by contextual factors that include social stability, structural dependencies between media and other social systems, and interpersonal discourse networks.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May 2026
Verb
Cage and Hay also gave a recital in conjunction with a lecture by W. F. Way, who discoursed on the need for a yacht harbor in Santa Monica.
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2025
The cycle can become so accidentally ubiquitous that the former kids who blissfully existed outside of whatever discourses these trends or bands started in their heyday wonder now, as adults, what was so bad about them in the first place.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for discourse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discourse
Noun
-
Mom’s Day blends so well into the May springtime, thus inviting a conversation with the genius and mystery of creation.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2026
-
Try to do it in advance so that the conversation can be heard as a request to plan, rather than a demand for course correction.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
10 May 2026
Verb
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Proctor bragged about properly hydrating himself before practice, which is something past and present Dolphins coaches and trainers annually lecture the newcomers about to avoid dehydration, and the use of intravenous fluids.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2026
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For years, states such as New York and California have been run by politicians who seem to believe prosperity is permanent — an endless resource to be taxed a little more, regulated a little harder and lectured a little longer.—
Larry Clifton,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential negotiations.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
9 May 2026
-
Fox 5 reported that Semrade did not speak during the hearing and showed no emotion.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
Still, much of the public conversations around education centers on test scores and older students, leaving early childhood largely out of the discussion.—
Tina Dello Russo,
Boston Herald,
10 May 2026
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Through their discussions, and the essays and stories that they were assigned to write each week, Heidi came to know her students’ pain.—
Nicholas Dawidoff,
New Yorker,
10 May 2026
Verb
-
Wasserman was the evening’s major speaker and arrived at the event as reporters were talking to Cherfilus-McCormick.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
12 May 2026
-
Join, stay in, talk to the teacher next door.—
Steven Walker,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 May 2026
Verb
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While American pundits wrote haranguing op-eds warning that the breaking of diplomatic precedent would prompt China to escalate war, ordinary people in Taiwan celebrated.—
Michelle Kuo,
The Dial,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Most presidents have treated it as a chance to note their accomplishments, to harangue Congress into supporting their priorities, and to speak to the American people.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Inside this building, generations of artists a century apart converse about similarly distressing and awe-inducing encounters between us and our technological creations.—
Justin Davidson,
Curbed,
19 Mar. 2026
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The two converse as if Janet is a hostage on a permanent Zoom call, always sitting in the same room, in the same clothes, talking to the same nonexistent camera.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
More often, though, Tallent demonstrates his characters’ precarity rather than declaiming about it.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Providence doesn’t give you a Latin teacher for a mother without consequence: Samy declaimed classical locutions with scandalous ease.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Discourse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discourse. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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