MATES Synonyms: 167 Similar and Opposite Words

mates 1 of 2

noun

plural of mate

as in halves

either of a pair matched in one or more qualities have you seen the mate to this glove anywhere?

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in associates

a person frequently seen in the company of another that lout and his mates are known troublemakers in the neighborhood

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as in assistants

chiefly British a person who helps a more skilled person a plumber and his mate showed up to fix the sink in our London hotel room

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as in partners

the person to whom another is married they vowed to each other that they would remain mates for life

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in friends

chiefly British a person who has a strong liking for and trust in another spent the weekend in London with some of his mates from Oxford

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

mates

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of mate

as in sleeps

to engage in sexual intercourse cats conceive almost every time they mate

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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 mates

Noun

The striker subsequently returned to training and apologised to team-mates on Monday. — David Ornstein, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Sending love to her family, friends, and my fellow cast mates, RIP Hayd. — Breanne L. Heldman, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026 This extra noise played from an overhead speaker, but did not have much of an effect on how the females chose mates. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 12 Aug. 2026

Verb

In addition to that, the company’s next car, the Tourbillon, will be its first to feature the company’s new hybrid powertrain, which mates a three-foot-long, naturally aspirated V-16 with a trio of electric motors. — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 17 July 2026 His rotation mates Jameson Taillon (20) and Shota Imanaga (17) have given up the most in the majors. — Andy Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 5 June 2026 The centre-forward is increasingly aware of these situations, positioning himself correctly or attacking the right space to offer his team-mates an option when City are attacking the wide areas. — Ahmed Walid, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mates

Noun

The fairing halves will return to Earth to be recovered by SpaceX.

— Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
Divide and brush the remaining 1/4 cup dressing on the bottom halves of the buns.

— Kate Williams, AJC.com, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of halves

Noun

Beck didn’t participate in the book, but Riesman finds enough friends, family and associates to assemble a complex portrait of an artist who wants his audiences to see him as fashion-forward but has had a hard time shaking his past.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
John Giusti, a chiropractor with an independent practice outside Dallas and Forth Worth, was found dead on Monday, friends and business associates said on social media.

— N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of associates

Noun

Achord meets with his two assistants, 36-year-old Corey Harkey, who played for the Rams from 2012-2016, and Jeff Koonz, who was a Packers defensive assistant last season and the West Virginia special teams coordinator before that.

— Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
The report said only 14 percent expect greater use of AI shopping assistants to be the biggest behavioral change this season, and most are still concentrating their attention on shipping costs, discounts and operational execution.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of assistants

Noun

Philanthropy takes center stage Organizers vowed to work with nonprofit partners to put the grants toward their most urgent and underresourced needs.

— James Pollard, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026
People who work with the investor credit his business acumen, low-key demeanor and daunting work ethic, qualities that have attracted partners, founders and mentors alike — including Iger.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of partners

Noun

In the weeks since her son died during a Fourth of July boating trip with friends, Christine Wells-Wonsley and her husband, Elmore, have become a fixture at the civil rights attorney’s side.

— Ryan Young, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
Afterward, a few friends made the half-mile trek east to the Mabee Center on the edge of campus.

— Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of friends

Verb

The newest Harvard Business School professor never sleeps, can hear the same pitch 50 times and technically isn’t an instructor at all.

— Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
For a higher-end experience, there’s Hilton’s HooDoo Moab, a Main Street-proximate luxury property that sleeps up to six in a room.

— Jamie Siebrase, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of sleeps

Noun

Then there's the emergence of artificial intelligence chatbots and companions that create a host of other concerns for underage usage, but that aren't generally considered part of the social media industry.

— Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026
The company describes these products as interactive companions that go beyond conventional robots, with features designed to sense their surroundings and initiate simple forms of engagement.

— Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of companions

Noun

And because nobody washed the dishes before tossing them into the feasting pit, King and his colleagues (in a 2017 study) could analyze the microscopic residue of ancient drinks that had soaked into the ceramic.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026
Whether El Niño will continue to strengthen is something Cole and her colleagues’ records can’t answer, but scientists are using climate models to try to puzzle that out.

— Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of colleagues

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maters

mates

matey

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Style

“Mates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mates. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of mates

noun

verb

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