storms 1 of 2

noun

plural of storm
1
as in thunderstorms
a disturbance of the atmosphere accompanied by wind and often by precipitation (as rain or snow) a winter storm bringing about six inches of snow

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in rains
a heavy fall of objects police had to endure a storm of rocks and bricks hurled by the rioters

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in barrages
a rapid or overwhelming outpouring of many things at once the army's spokesperson faced a storm of questions from reporters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in disturbances
a state of noisy, confused activity a few minutes of calm before the storm, when the store would open its doors on the busiest day of the year

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in rainstorms
a steady falling of water from the sky in significant quantity the storm caused major damage to our barn

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in explosions
a sudden intense expression of strong feeling a storm of indignation and demands for his resignation arose when the mayor's dishonesty was exposed

Synonyms & Similar Words
7
as in upheavals
a violent disturbance (as of the political or social order) civil wars and other storms of unrest swept through the African continent

Synonyms & Similar Words

storms

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of storm
1
as in rages
to express one's anger usually violently the chef spent the morning storming at his staff about the ruined sauces

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pours
to fall as water in a continuous stream of drops from the clouds it storms so frequently up in the mountains that the peaks are rarely visible from the valley below

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in attacks
to take sudden, violent action against the pirates stormed the ship, easily taking the whole crew as their prisoners

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in steams
to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger by the time we arrived, our hostess was storming because dinner was ruined

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 storms
Noun
Several points along the Missouri River downstream from Kansas City remain under flood warnings after last week’s storms. — Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026 Warmer water and long-term sea level rise have already lifted sea levels along the coast, and big swells from distant storms are damaging shorelines. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026 The third largest issue affecting heritage sites, coming in around 30 percent, per the study, was extreme weather events like flooding, storms, droughts, and wildfires. — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 The parade of atmospheric river storms that could soak flatlanders could just as easily deliver record-breaking powder at higher, colder elevations. — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026 Polo quickly became one of the strongest Pacific storms in decades, with winds reaching 180 mph. — Chanh Kieu, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026 The next stretch of storms arrive on Tuesday and brew on Wednesday at 70%. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 2026 Experts have said strong winds from approaching storms could have created a tail wind that helped propel the plane forward. — ABC News, 1 Oct. 2026 Hawaii residents were still recovering from several other natural events this year, including spring Kona low storms, a May earthquake, Hurricane Lala in August and Hurricane Lowell in September. — Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
Moments later, MacKinney storms in, kills one of Colum’s guards, and orders his men to round up the castle’s women and sequester them in the chapel. — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026 Like magic, upon the proclamation, arm lift, and beat drop, pouring rain storms down upon the audience. — Miki Hellerbach, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 Sandra Hüller storms in briefly, huffing and puffing, as Digger’s sister, Emma. — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 In the bit, Hargitay as Benson storms into the SVU office and tells the staff that the brass just absolutely needs to know if Swift would be at the Emmys. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026 This does not sit well with Chapel, who witnesses the exchange then storms off angrily. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026 But Danny and Ricky aren’t falling for Russ’ carefree act, and Ricky, unable to take any more of his lies, storms out. — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026 Mars storms the Official Streaming chart with five titles, while one of his most successful collaborations becomes a bestseller again on multiple rosters. — Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 Although significant, that event was far less powerful than the Carrington Event — or the even rarer storms the new study suggests may be possible. — Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 17 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for storms
  1. thunderstorms
  2. rains
  3. barrages
  4. disturbances
  5. explosions
  6. upheavals
  7. rages
  8. attacks
Noun
  • About 100,000 thunderstorms rumble across the United States each year, but just 10% intensify into a severe thunderstorm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
    — Chris Dolce, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of thunderstorms
Noun
  • Very heavy to heavy rains are also forecast in some areas in the central, eastern and southern regions, including the capital, Bangkok, over the weekend.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Heavy rains fell in many areas of southeastern and northeastern Spain on Friday.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of rains
Noun
  • In Kyiv, for example, residents used to face a few drone and missile barrages a week—disruptive, but not enough to stop city residents from going about their lives.
    — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Stunned at first by his opponent’s aggressiveness and the onslaught of personal attacks, Ted trains himself to withstand the barrages and to respond in kind.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of barrages
Noun
  • Any small disturbances will also cause the hurricane intensity to fluctuate.
    — Chanh Kieu, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Larger deployments would introduce greater distances, stronger environmental disturbances, and more difficult communication conditions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbances
Noun
  • The shoot involved firing blanks and igniting explosions, theatrics that shocked the film’s residential neighbors and spurred concerns over public safety.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026
  • As the car drives on while dodging a series of explosions, a seemingly endless number of terrorists armed with automatic weapons shoot at it to no avail.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of explosions
Noun
  • Against encroaching social upheavals, the sovereign was resolutely the center of a mercantilist universe.
    — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The underlying motivation for African policymakers is to untether their economies from commodity cycles and, by extension, the upheavals that come with them.
    — Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of upheavals
Verb
  • Neither Shaggy nor Kartel has made any new comments, but all eyes are on the two superstars as the debate rages on in their comment sections, with their fervent fan bases warring on their behalf.
    — Kyle Denis, Billboard, 28 Sep. 2026
  • But for now the war rages on, dividing some communities in Ukraine through Russian propaganda videos.
    — Yasmin Vossoughian, NBC news, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of rages
Verb
  • The degenerative disease attacks the motor neurons of the brain and spinal cords.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The advertisement, which was released last week, attacks Vang over her attendance record at the meetings of local government bodies including the Sacramento Regional Transit District and Sacramento Transportation Authority.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacks

Browse Nearby Words

storming
storms
stormy
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Storms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/storms. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All