Thesaurus results for EXEMPLAR

Q: How does the noun 'exemplar' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of exemplar are example , ideal , model , and pattern . While all these words mean "someone or something set before one for guidance or imitation," exemplar suggests either a faultless example to be emulated or a perfect typification. // cited Joan of Arc as the exemplar of courage

Q: Where would 'example' be a reasonable alternative to 'exemplar'?

While the synonyms example and exemplar are close in meaning, example applies to a person to be imitated or in some contexts on no account to be imitated but to be regarded as a warning. // children tend to follow the example of their parents

Q: When is 'ideal' a more appropriate choice than 'exemplar'?

Although the words ideal and exemplar have much in common, ideal implies the best possible exemplification either in reality or in conception. // never found a job that matched his ideal

Q: When would 'model' be a good substitute for 'exemplar'?

The synonyms model and exemplar are sometimes interchangeable, but model applies to something taken or proposed as worthy of imitation. // a decor that is a model of good taste

Q: When is it sensible to use 'pattern' instead of 'exemplar'?

The words pattern and exemplar can be used in similar contexts, but pattern suggests a clear and detailed archetype or prototype. // American industry set a pattern for others to follow

exemplar

noun

ig-ˈzem-ˌplär

Definition of exemplar

as in example

one of a group or collection that shows what the whole is like the village's Congregational church could serve as an exemplar of the white clapboard church with a steeple that is a fixture in old New England towns

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in model

someone of such unequaled perfection as to deserve imitation few of history's heroes were quite the exemplars that generations of schoolteachers made them out to be

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in classic

the most perfect type or example the paintings of the French painter Claude Monet are often regarded as exemplars of Impressionism

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun exemplar differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of exemplar are example, ideal, model, and pattern. While all these words mean "someone or something set before one for guidance or imitation," exemplar suggests either a faultless example to be emulated or a perfect typification.

cited Joan of Arc as the exemplar of courage

Where would example be a reasonable alternative to exemplar?

While the synonyms example and exemplar are close in meaning, example applies to a person to be imitated or in some contexts on no account to be imitated but to be regarded as a warning.

children tend to follow the example of their parents

When is ideal a more appropriate choice than exemplar?

Although the words ideal and exemplar have much in common, ideal implies the best possible exemplification either in reality or in conception.

never found a job that matched his ideal

When would model be a good substitute for exemplar?

The synonyms model and exemplar are sometimes interchangeable, but model applies to something taken or proposed as worthy of imitation.

a decor that is a model of good taste

When is it sensible to use pattern instead of exemplar?

The words pattern and exemplar can be used in similar contexts, but pattern suggests a clear and detailed archetype or prototype.

American industry set a pattern for others to follow

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 exemplar But the other piece of AISI news last week makes clear just what sort of challenges de Zoete will face—and is indicative of why AISI may not really be the exemplar of savvy AI governance that its boosters like to crow about. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026 Architect William Levy Alexander designed the three-bedroom home that stands as an exemplar of early 20th-century modernism. — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 19 Aug. 2026 One of this model’s best exemplars is an object known as MoM-BH*-1, first found in JWST images from 2023 and the subject of a paper published today in Nature. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026 Panegyrists of the American Century would hold up artists such as Pollock as exemplars of the new dynamism, the new liberty of free expression. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for exemplar

Recent Examples of Synonyms for exemplar

Noun

Both examples demonstrate how local champions and an existing source of funding can help turn a lifesaving idea into reality.

— Meng Yang, Time, 18 Oct. 2026
As usual, most of the homes are located in North America, but our roundup also includes examples from Europe and Australia.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of example

Noun

By 2023, with tensions mounting between Israel and Hamas, Qatari officials pressed for a different model, one that would deliver assistance to Gazans without making civilians dependent on either Hamas or the Israeli government.

— Eric Cortellessa, Time, 18 Oct. 2026
For a complicated model with multiple color changes, the waste can become substantial.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of model

Noun

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister An eerie fable that seems to take place across and outside of time, The Bog Wife is already a classic of the modern bog-core genre.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Its Lotus and Talisman collections, alongside solitaires and diamond classics, are being developed as recognizable signatures that can be worn, layered and collected over time.

— Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of classic

Noun

Giving Americans $1,000 or $5,000 invested in a technology index is a straightforward idea; The source and use of the funds will likely be of great debate.

— Sarah Cannon, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
Both examples demonstrate how local champions and an existing source of funding can help turn a lifesaving idea into reality.

— Meng Yang, Time, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of idea

Noun

In practice, socialism operated more as a moral ideal for egalitarian liberals than as a discernible electoral strategy.

— Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
Of course, one is inevitably loaded with expectations and prejudices, but the ideal of letting the work teach you how to consider it, as the philosopher Stanely Cavell counseled, is a useful starting point.

— Lola Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of ideal

Noun

Most of these programs did not have physical forms in their original MCU incarnations, but appear in human form within the world inside Vision’s mind.

— Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
At the Zurich conference, Mayer noted that CoComelon‘s Netflix incarnation was the streamer’s most popular title from 2021-2024.

— Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of incarnation

Noun

Turns out, Shakespeare didn’t have to decide, because the story works equally well whether the reader believes the figure is ectoplasm in the castle courtyard or is a psychological manifestation of Hamlet’s nagging conscience.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
The demonstrations became a more widespread manifestation of anger and anxiety about education, employment, and general livelihood issues.

— Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of manifestation

Noun

The present ideal isn’t perfection, but a kind of rule-breaking individualism, preferably with an IYKYK spin.

— Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2026
Afsaneh Salari’s Tehran, Under the Skin enters Tehran’s cosmetic clinics to explore the pressures behind Iran’s widespread culture of cosmetic surgery in pursuit of physical perfection, in a conservative society that seeks to control women’s beauty.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of perfection

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Style

“Exemplar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exemplar. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of exemplar

noun

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