1
as in to speak
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject
an English professor who loves to descant on his beloved Shakespeare
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
variants
also discant
1
as in chorus
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in observation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples of descant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
Noun
Bart, too idiosyncratic merely to copy the idiosyncrasies of the movie’s Christopher Lloyd, instead adds a descant of commentary atop them, sometimes seeming to extemporize a different show entirely.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
Then comes a longer descant of mixed-up work, including bad versions of pop tunes and ambitious attempts at pop epics.
—Adam Gopni, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021
For seven decades, Katz has been providing a visual descant to the work of the New York School of poets, many of whom were his friends.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2022
Birds provided an intermittent descant to the insect buzz and the drone of a distant tractor.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2022
The Hynde storyline, which includes her messing around with songs on an acoustic guitar, runs as a kind of descant against the personal and professional noise of the Pistols.
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
This is a dark and defensive descant to a more substantial and necessary conversation about whiteness in America.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 3 July 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'descant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near descant
Cite this Entry
“Descant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descant. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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