1
as in to win
to achieve victory (as in a contest)
we shall prevail despite the overwhelming odds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to survive
to continue to operate or to meet one's needs
a custom that still prevails in many areas of Africa
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of prevail
Duke looked poised to prevail even after seeing its 14-point lead cut to a two-possession lead.
—
Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
Musk’s political assets and liabilities in that case appeared to cancel each other out, with Crawford’s 10-point margin of victory almost identical to the last election to the court, in 2023, when another liberal candidate prevailed by 11 points.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 5 Apr. 2025
The tariffs amount to a nearly nine-fold increase in the prevailing U.S. import tax last year.
—Scott Horsley, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
And its yearning idealism is a good antidote to the current prevailing cynicism.
—ArsTechnica, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevail
Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
Musk’s political assets and liabilities in that case appeared to cancel each other out, with Crawford’s 10-point margin of victory almost identical to the last election to the court, in 2023, when another liberal candidate prevailed by 11 points.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 5 Apr. 2025
The tariffs amount to a nearly nine-fold increase in the prevailing U.S. import tax last year.
—Scott Horsley, NPR, 3 Apr. 2025
And its yearning idealism is a good antidote to the current prevailing cynicism.
—ArsTechnica, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prevail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for prevail
Verb
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If the Heat loses Wednesday, Miami could finish ahead of Atlanta by winning its final two games and Atlanta losing three of its final four (Tuesday’s late game at Orlando, at Brooklyn, at Philadelphia and vs. Orlando).—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
8 Apr. 2025
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Chicago Tribune Arnold Palmer, who cooked up the notion of the modern Grand Slam in 1960 — after Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan had achieved it — played the PGA Championship 34 times without winning to complete the slam.—
Doug Ferguson,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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And seriously, shouldn't surviving that nightmare initial Vula tribe designation be worth a cool million bucks?—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
10 Apr. 2025
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She's also accused in Arizona of conspiring with Cox to attempt to kill her niece's ex-husband, Brandon Boudreaux, who was shot at in the fall of 2019 but survived.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Other than Maani, the list of witnesses is short and the case is expected to last only about a week.—
Jason Meisner,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Apr. 2025
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The game lasts about two minutes in total before the AI calls it a day, exhausted from generating the worst gaming experience possible.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
6 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Prevail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/prevail. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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