KNELL Synonyms: 68 Similar and Opposite Words

knell 1 of 2

verb

Definition of knell

as in to ring

to make the clear sound heard when metal vibrates the church bells knelled to mark the death of the nation's beloved leader

Synonyms & Similar Words

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knell

2 of 2

noun

as in peal

Related Words

as in indicator

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 knell

Noun

But the closing of Music Hall seems a particularly poignant death knell. — Michael Calderone, Curbed, 4 Sep. 2026 What’s more, Reid and Sherrell said, condescension from medical providers over cultural beliefs or practices can be a death knell for public health. — Cara Kelly, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026 The job loss alone might be a death knell for the Hollywood community, which Los Angeles County estimates could be in the thousands. — Mike Schur, HollywoodReporter, 24 Aug. 2026 Experts suggest this isn't a death knell for American and European firms, who are strategically focusing on product refinement and reliability before mass scaling, aiming for sustainable market entry rather than rapid, potentially flawed, volume. — John Koetsier, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for knell

Recent Examples of Synonyms for knell

Verb

Mindy Miranda said her 8-year-old daughter was in her third-grade classroom upstairs when shots rang out.

— Kaila Nichols, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2026
The tables were draped in salmon-pink tablecloths and ringed with bright red chairs, and each plate had a napkin folded into a swan.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of ring

Noun

One of the more surreal responses to that experience is applause, which ripples through the audience of Paranormal Activity a beat after all the major scares, like rain settling in after a peal of thunder.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2026
Assuming the role of a human clapper, Holzinger struck its lip again and again, sending a sonorous peal across the Biennale grounds.

— Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 24 June 2026

Definition of peal

Noun

Pastries containing squash for which there is a poster indicating a shelf life of two days under refrigeration, were for sale and at room temperature without time-mark indicators to be discarded.

— NWA Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026
Since the advent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, the list of possible indicators that the AI boom was about to go bust is long and keeps getting longer, leaving Wall Street asking each time if the end is finally near.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of indicator

Verb

Despite being published nearly fifty years later, Love Days tolls the same alarm bells as The Story of Avis.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
Church bells tolled across the country when Leo’s charter flight landed at Paris’ Orly airport, and more than a million people are expected to turn out to see him.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of toll

Noun

With resurgent inflation and traders weighing the Fed's next move, any signal on the rate path could ripple through the equities, bond and currency markets.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
When the device rotates, the frequencies of these signals shift slightly relative to each other.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of signal

Verb

Bruce Blakeman, the Republican challenger in the gubernatorial race, also chimed on Mamdani's statement.

— Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
The loud-mouthed cameos from ex-soccer players Zlatan Ibrahimović and Eric Cantona in Nike’s World Cup hero film Rip the Script were indicative of this, chiming with an older, more arrogant vision of Nike seen in the ’90s and the aughts.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of chime

Noun

Cloudy chords, meditative tintinnabulation, the whoosh of wind and rain, blocks of iridescent brass — all these discrete sonorities trundled by, like a train of boxcars with panoramas painted on their sides.

— Justin Davidson, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025
Shivaree, chthonian, erumpent, tintinnabulation, exonumia, requiescat, deipnosophist, omphaloskepsis, horripilation, deliquesce, apopemptic.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2021

Definition of tintinnabulation

Browse Nearby Words

kneesocks

knell

knelled

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“Knell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knell. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of knell

verb

noun

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