1
as in to sharpen
to make sharp or sharper
honed the knife's blade to razor-like sharpness honed his crossword-puzzle skills by reading the dictionary as though it were a thrilling novel
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to rub
to make smooth by friction
honed the edge of the axe until it was amazingly sharp
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hone
Ritual plans to continue honing its advocacy messaging while focusing on growing sales among existing customers.
—
Emma Sandler, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
Budding photographers can take advantage of this hike to hone their skills.
—Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2025
Duke University’s men’s basketball success over the years—the national championships, the Final Four appearances, all the NBA players who’ve honed their craft down in Durham—has created a blue-chip brand.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
By then, Basquiat was collaborating with Warhol and, in his paintings, honing a critique of ownership and the commodification of everyday life.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hone
Emma Sandler, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
Budding photographers can take advantage of this hike to hone their skills.
—Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2025
Duke University’s men’s basketball success over the years—the national championships, the Final Four appearances, all the NBA players who’ve honed their craft down in Durham—has created a blue-chip brand.
—Sean Gregory, TIME, 11 Mar. 2025
By then, Basquiat was collaborating with Warhol and, in his paintings, honing a critique of ownership and the commodification of everyday life.
—Zach Helfand, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hone
Verb
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Conflict isn’t a bad thing; friction can sharpen ideas and lead to an even better solution.—
Andrew Block,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
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The experience sharpened the company’s focus on efficient buying, holding and selling of vehicles.—
Peter High,
Forbes,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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And yet, in this case, the notion of human improvement rubs me the wrong way.—
Jaron Lanier,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
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The herbed butter rubbed onto the corn cobs is what really makes this recipe magic.—
Alana Al-Hatlani,
Southern Living,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Due to Star Wars Outlaws’ reception, particularly about its glitches, developer Ubisoft took the extra time to polish Assassin’s Creed Shadows.—
George Yang,
Rolling Stone,
18 Mar. 2025
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The 80-room property was purchased in 2009 by the R Collection, a group of 12 luxurious hotels owned by the Rocchi family, and has since been polished to five-star standards.—
Gina DeCaprio Vercesi,
Travel + Leisure,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Related Articles One of Shields’ hosting looks featured a suit with juxtaposing colors of gray and sand with pinstripe detail by KidSuper.—
Julia Teti,
WWD,
10 Mar. 2025
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Most stars sand down the rough edges for big-paycheck roles like that.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
8 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Many golf fans will be familiar with Kim based on his presence on X, formerly Twitter, but Kim has been grinding hard to get to Augusta National.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2025
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This year, really grinding through a lot of different rosters, lot of different changes.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Ben is not named in the lawsuit and there have been no criminal charges filed against him in the murder.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
21 Mar. 2025
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Baldoni has denied these allegations and filed his own $400 million defamation suit against Lively.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hone. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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