wanes 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of wane
as in subsides
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually in the course of the evening the storm steadily waned

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

wanes

2 of 2

noun

plural of wane
as in ebbs

Related Words

Dissimilar 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 wanes
Verb
Despite its enduring impact, only about one in ten Americans plan to mark the 25th anniversary, as confidence in government protection wanes and concern about future terrorism persists. — Linley Sanders, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026 The shrine, about a two-hour drive into the grasslands north of the capital, Buenos Aires, offered a glimpse of a centuries-old tradition of folk saints that runs deep in Argentina even as the influence of the Catholic Church wanes. — ABC News, 8 Sep. 2026 Bloomberg via Getty Images; Getty Images Several battlegrounds have begun to tilt toward Democrats, and real fights are emerging in red states as control of the Senate wanes. — Kaylah Jackson, NBC news, 8 Sep. 2026 The health secretary also appeared on national television eating french fries cooked in beef tallow while falsely suggesting that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes more deaths than measles and that the protection from the vaccine wanes. — Demetre Daskalakis, STAT, 4 Sep. 2026 Beat the rush and visit these autumn destinations just as summer wanes. — Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 30 Aug. 2026 Summary American finance is undergoing a significant shift as Wall Street's traditional dominance wanes. — Dave Birnbaum, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Fillion has already played Guy in previous DC Universe projects, including Superman and season 2 of Peacemaker, and teased that his character’s signature confidence wanes in Lanterns. — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 16 Aug. 2026 The canning peach industry faces challenges as consumer demand wanes with the greater availability of fresh fruit. — Lizzie Kane, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wanes
  1. subsides
  2. ebbs
  3. decreases
  4. retreats
  5. diminishes
  6. declines
  7. vanishes
  8. remissions
Verb
  • Chadchart said despite the heavy rain, flooding should recede once the rain subsides, as city officials are working to drain floodwaters as quickly as possible.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Ideally, those refugees would remain in human care for years or even decades until the mussel invasion subsides.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of subsides
Noun
  • Years of going through the ebbs and flows of playoff games had the Knicks ready.
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 16 June 2026
  • Construction ebbs and flows with cyclical interest rates.
    — Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 4 June 2026
Definition of ebbs
Verb
  • The front finally moves through on Friday, but some heavy rain will still be possible early, before the chance of rain decreases into the weekend.
    — Michael Autovino, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The Nebraska researchers also found that hafnia becomes more stable as its thickness decreases.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of decreases
Noun
  • Wellness travelers tend to spend more per trip than the average tourist, and gut-health retreats can come with some eye-popping price tags.
    — Ashley Lynch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Gut health has become a major wellness focus, and the retreats built around it now span from hundreds of dollars to experiences valued at up to $20,000.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of retreats
Verb
  • By effectively raising the threshold in the playoffs, the NFL acknowledges that over-officiating diminishes the product and that marginal penalties should not decide its most important games.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Subtracting LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges somewhat diminishes the overall talent, but Charlotte wanted Miller and Knueppel to usher them into the next era.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of diminishes
Noun
  • Another major challenge is intensifying domestic competition and labor shortages as Japan’s birth rate declines and its population ages, Nagai said.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 5 Oct. 2026
  • This year’s drought across western Japan, with some meteorologists comparing it to the country’s worst drought in more than 30 years, is already being tied to yield declines in official data.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of declines
Verb
  • Washington just needs to act before the debt begins to spiral and fiscal space vanishes.
    — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2026
  • As the temperature drops and food vanishes, worker wasps become desperate for calories.
    — Nick Perry, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of vanishes
Noun
  • Immix Biopharma said its experimental CAR-T therapy induced complete remissions in 89% of patients with AL Amyloidosis, a rare autoimmune disorder in which toxic proteins build up in organs like the heart and kidneys.
    — Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 29 Sep. 2026
  • By simultaneously hitting three or more targets, these agents promise not only deeper responses but potentially longer remissions in some of the hardest-to-treat cancers.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Definition of remissions

Browse Nearby Words

waned
wanes
wangle
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wanes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wanes. Accessed 10 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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of Luddite

See Definitions and Examples »

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
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All