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Synonym of the day

culminate

culminate is a synonym of end

verb [ kuhl-muh-neyt ]

culminate is another word for end

Both words refer to arriving at the final point or stage of something. When a movie ends, it’s over. The sense of end we’re concerned with here can stand alone, as in the example above, or it can be followed by a prepositional phrase stating how something ended: The scene ends with a fade-out. Culminate works as a strong synonym for end in cases like this because it’s normally followed by the preposition “in,” or sometimes “with.” Culminating with a fade-out could be a bit self-contradictory, however, because culminate, which comes from a Latin word for “top” or “peak,” suggests ending at a high, ultimate, or conclusive point: This nail-biting scene culminates in a shocking revelation.

Commonly found as

event(s) + culminate
The two-day event will culminate in an awards ceremony on the lakefront.
eventually culminate
The musician’s long period of seclusion eventually culminated in a burst of composing and recording.

See all synonyms for end

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menace

menace is a synonym of threat

noun [ men-is ]

menace is another word for threat

Both words refer to someone or something that poses a danger to us. A threat in this sense is not the verbal warning (Is that a threat?), but something that jeopardizes, or could jeopardize, life, peace, health, or other desirable conditions currently intact: a threat to national security. Menace can be a strong synonym for threat, when the harm is imminent or even already occurring, as with the menace of crime, corruption, pollution, and stray dogs.The difference in meaning can be seen in the verbs that typically precede each word. We want to eliminate a threat before the harm comes to pass, but a menace already has a troubling presence we tackle, curb, deal with, or eradicate. Gang culture is a threat to the community, whereas the presence of gangs has become or is a menace.

Commonly found as

menace + crime
One neighborhood’s approach to dealing with the menace presented by drug-related crime has been hailed as a model for communities across the nation.
become a menace
Feral cats have become a menace in Australia, where they are estimated to kill as many as 75 million native mammals, reptiles, and birds each day.

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macabre

macabre is a synonym of gruesome

adjective [ muh-kah-bruh, -kahb, -kah-ber ]

macabre is another word for gruesome

Both words refer to something horrifying and repellent—especially acts and images of violence and death, with no gore spared. Gruesome comes from a Germanic word for “shudder.” It suggests something graphic that evokes a visceral response. Macabre is a strong synonym for gruesome: a gruesome murder could also be described as macabre murder. However, macabre tends to describe things less tangible than gore, like an atmosphere, a mood, or an artistic or literary representation of something horrible. We can compare these typical uses: gruesome photos and gruesome video; macabre tale and macabre movie. Macabre is frequently paired with dark, bizarre, strange, and grotesque.

Commonly found as

macabre scene
What kind of wax museum has macabre scenes like this? They even depicted the Romanov family minutes after they were all assassinated!
bizarre + macabre
It’s the bizarre and macabre captions that make this cartoonist’s work so memorable.

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