variants
also premiss
1
as in assumption
something taken as being true or factual and used as a starting point for a course of action or reasoning
your conclusion is all wrong because you started out with a false premise
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in ground
premises plural
the area around and belonging to a building
detectives painstakingly searched the premises for clues to the disappearance
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to say
to take as true or as a fact without actual proof
let us premise certain things, such as every person's need for love, before beginning our line of reasoning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 premise
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2025
The premise of The Accidental—borrowed from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film, Teorema—is the reskinning of an unhappy bourgeois family: mother, son, daughter, and stepfather.
—Adam Begley, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025
Arancha González Laya, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2025
Shelton’s case is premised on his contention that he was assured a job with the Clippers if Leonard signed and that although he was hired, he wasn’t hired to the level of position promised and was later punished for defending Leonard’s health.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 5 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for premise 
Noun
There’s an existential premise at work regarding the socially destructive power of technology, and Tregenza, having dropped hints along the way, eventually reveals it with an artistic shock of enormous daring.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2025
The premise of The Accidental—borrowed from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film, Teorema—is the reskinning of an unhappy bourgeois family: mother, son, daughter, and stepfather.
—Adam Begley, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025
Verb
Any European approach that is premised on an attempt to preserve a past iteration of the transatlantic relationship is bound to fail.
—Arancha González Laya, Foreign Affairs, 6 Jan. 2025
Shelton’s case is premised on his contention that he was assured a job with the Clippers if Leonard signed and that although he was hired, he wasn’t hired to the level of position promised and was later punished for defending Leonard’s health.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 5 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for premise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for premise
Noun
-
Our analysis also makes some other conservative assumptions given the policy’s uncertainty.—
Emily Badger,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
-
And so is having people around you who can argue with you and question your assumptions.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Reddish light, which travels more directly in the air, manifests to ground observers during sunrises and sunsets when the sun is near the horizon and its incoming light travels at a longer, low-angle path through Earth's atmosphere.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA TODAY,
19 Feb. 2025
-
The water ice on the surface of the world suggests that there should be more water hidden below ground.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
In the first incident, a security guard contracted by the MTA at the 86th St. station on the Upper East Side confronted a man sneaking onto the downtown platform of the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 trains around 6:25 p.m., sources said.—
Elizabeth Keogh,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2025
-
The cast and crew who assembled in the castle were subsequently said to have been totally accepting of the ghost of Lady Sophie, who haunts Amhuinnsuidhe.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
So which team has best chance of actually winning? Keeler: Deion Sanders taking CU Buffs to College Football Playoff feels like when, not an if.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
10 Dec. 2024
-
There’s no if’s, and’s or but’s about it: the Rangers can’t waste this opportunity against a tanking opponent.—
Shawn McFarland,
Dallas News,
6 Sep. 2023
Noun
-
Image There was something both sinister and sweet about the actress’s Chanel couture look of floral-print bustier dress shrouded in yards and yards of black tulle.—
The Styles Desk,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
-
Twilley went on to play 11 seasons for the Dolphins and finished his pro career with 212 receptions for 3,064 yards and 23 touchdowns.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
According to public filings with the UK’s corporate register, Runge, a German citizen, assumed the role at the end of last month after departing Interview Magazine.—
Angelica Villa,
ARTnews.com,
10 Feb. 2025
-
In the latest entry to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mackie assumes the role as the titular hero, taking over from Chris Evans, whose character Steve Rogers passed the shield to Mackie’s Sam Wilson at the end of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.—
Eric Andersson,
People.com,
8 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
For Kendrick, a rich celebrity, that alignment is a fine proposition.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
11 Feb. 2025
-
Kramer’s curiosity about such questions and her game cast’s ability to key into her twee existentialism make for a fascinating if eventually quite trying proposition.—
Manuel Betancourt,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Read Next National Mysterious fossil resembling human ear found in park in Arizona.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
10 Feb. 2025
-
The free Parcours sector, which takes over public spaces, churches, bridges, and parks across the city, has been especially popular in recent years.—
Adam H. Graham,
AFAR Media,
10 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to premise
Thesaurus Entries Near premise
Cite this Entry
“Premise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/premise. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share