Thesaurus results for EXEMPLAR

Q: How does the noun 'exemplar' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of exemplar are example , ideal , model , and pattern . While all these words mean "someone or something set before one for guidance or imitation," exemplar suggests either a faultless example to be emulated or a perfect typification. // cited Joan of Arc as the exemplar of courage

Q: Where would 'example' be a reasonable alternative to 'exemplar'?

While the synonyms example and exemplar are close in meaning, example applies to a person to be imitated or in some contexts on no account to be imitated but to be regarded as a warning. // children tend to follow the example of their parents

Q: When is 'ideal' a more appropriate choice than 'exemplar'?

Although the words ideal and exemplar have much in common, ideal implies the best possible exemplification either in reality or in conception. // never found a job that matched his ideal

Q: When would 'model' be a good substitute for 'exemplar'?

The synonyms model and exemplar are sometimes interchangeable, but model applies to something taken or proposed as worthy of imitation. // a decor that is a model of good taste

Q: When is it sensible to use 'pattern' instead of 'exemplar'?

The words pattern and exemplar can be used in similar contexts, but pattern suggests a clear and detailed archetype or prototype. // American industry set a pattern for others to follow

exemplar

noun

ig-ˈzem-ˌplär

Definition of exemplar next

as in example

one of a group or collection that shows what the whole is like the village's Congregational church could serve as an exemplar of the white clapboard church with a steeple that is a fixture in old New England towns

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in model

someone of such unequaled perfection as to deserve imitation few of history's heroes were quite the exemplars that generations of schoolteachers made them out to be

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in classic

the most perfect type or example the paintings of the French painter Claude Monet are often regarded as exemplars of Impressionism

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun exemplar differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of exemplar are example, ideal, model, and pattern. While all these words mean "someone or something set before one for guidance or imitation," exemplar suggests either a faultless example to be emulated or a perfect typification.

cited Joan of Arc as the exemplar of courage

Where would example be a reasonable alternative to exemplar?

While the synonyms example and exemplar are close in meaning, example applies to a person to be imitated or in some contexts on no account to be imitated but to be regarded as a warning.

children tend to follow the example of their parents

When is ideal a more appropriate choice than exemplar?

Although the words ideal and exemplar have much in common, ideal implies the best possible exemplification either in reality or in conception.

never found a job that matched his ideal

When would model be a good substitute for exemplar?

The synonyms model and exemplar are sometimes interchangeable, but model applies to something taken or proposed as worthy of imitation.

a decor that is a model of good taste

When is it sensible to use pattern instead of exemplar?

The words pattern and exemplar can be used in similar contexts, but pattern suggests a clear and detailed archetype or prototype.

American industry set a pattern for others to follow

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 exemplar By this point in the book’s life, its status as an exemplar of fiction that upends expectations tips the reader off that there’s something unusual about it. —

Tajja Isen, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2024 Yet in the years since, many of the most popular exemplars of the form have been, to one degree or another, debunked — or at least reframed: A Million Little Pieces, Running With Scissors, Three Cups of Tea. —

Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2024 Later, once the federal government agreed that, in the matter of public schools, separate was, indeed, unequal, those schools that had once been shining exemplars of academic excellence somehow became the understaffed, underresourced, underequipped institutions Black folks were trying to escape. —

Andrea Williams, The Tennessean, 26 Apr. 2024 The story of Israel provided the perfect exemplar, a way to couch an outsider’s argument in an insider’s language. —

Daniel Bergner, The Atlantic, 24 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for exemplar

Recent Examples of Synonyms for exemplar

Noun

One night in Mendoza, for example, a team of chefs prepped an asado in the middle of a vineyard while tango performers put on a show.

— Chris Dong, Travel + Leisure, 25 Jan. 2025
Designers like Mike Amiri, for example, brought vanity to the fore in a collection that looks more worldly than Casablanca and less compromising than recent Tom Ford.

— Julian Randall, Essence, 25 Jan. 2025