doves

noun

plural of dove
1
as in pacifists
a person who opposes war or warlike policies the doves were in favor of using the surplus to improve the nation's schools and not its weapons systems

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in angels
an innocent or gentle person he's a dove who wouldn't hurt a fly

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 doves That is much worse than calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and partridges and would certainly make for a terrible Christmas song. — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 The kids were standing in a meadow, surrounded by white doves and gazing up toward a cloudy sky in which a ray of light could just be seen. — Literary Hub, 28 July 2026 After making both doves and critics cry in its out-of-town tryouts, the Purple Rain musical adaptation is heading to Broadway. — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 27 July 2026 On Thursday morning, fat bees perched on black-and-blue sage flowers, and doves loudly fluttered from fruit tree to fruit tree. — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 23 July 2026 Monetary policy expectations can change rapidly, but this week has been a tough one for the doves. — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 23 July 2026 In Christianity, doves are associated with the Holy Spirit and symbolize purity and faith. — Gina Kalsi, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026 Joe Eula, a designer friend of Halston's hired by Paley, wanted to have doves fly over the wedding, and Stone wanted to have a traditional march down the aisle. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 30 June 2026 McGill’s superbly nuanced calls, runs, and trills elicited commentary from a second audience, perched in the trees above—a colloquium of finches, towhees, titmice, kingbirds, juncos, and Eurasian collared doves. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doves
  1. pacifists
  2. angels
  3. innocents
  4. sheep
  5. lambs
Noun
  • However, it was criticized by pacifists at home and China for deviating from Japan’s postwar self-defense only principle.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • All voiceover in the film is detached from the images, from a mixture of unidentified community folk who are content to speak anonymously, and neighboring outsiders perplexed by these out-of-time pacifists.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Definition of pacifists
Noun
  • Shortly after securing its first check, Popl raised a friends-and-family round backed by a couple of early angels, including Jason’s father and Popl advisor, Mike Alvarez Cohen.
    — Partner Content, Variety, 28 July 2026
  • Valor’s Antonio Gracias, HubSpot cofounders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, and Cognition CEO Scott Wu are among the angels.
    — Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 16 July 2026
Definition of angels
Noun
  • Some innocents are coerced into false confessions, like what happened to the Central Park Five.
    — Rene Denfeld, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026
  • Over 5,000 deaths, most of them for innocents not driving trucks, in 2023 alone.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of innocents
Noun
  • The wool comes from sheep raised around Shannan, about 3,700 meters (12,100 feet) above sea level.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The family travels around Indiana and Michigan to show animals, including sheep, goats and pigs.
    — Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of sheep
Noun
  • Bartenders serve a small selection of wine in short glasses emblazoned with white lambs, and a cocktail list features beverages that range from light and herbaceous to sweet and heady.
    — USA TODAY NETWORK, USA Today, 29 July 2026
  • From dogs tenaciously reading and ebony-and-ivory lambs to intellectual cats and a rabbit that appears knitted, the finalists showcase the creativity of pet photographers worldwide.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of lambs

Browse Nearby Words

dovecotes
doves
dovetail
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Doves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doves. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on doves

Nglish: Translation of doves for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of vacuous

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
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
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All