1
as in curse
a source of harm or misfortune
regarding the new laborsaving machinery as a bane, the 19th-century Luddites went about destroying it in protest
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in poison
a substance that by chemical action can kill or injure a living thing
a plant that is believed to be the bane of the wolf
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bane
Sargassum, the stinky, slimy bane of beachgoers worldwide, returned to swarm south Florida beaches last week, as masses of the seaweed were spotted lining the shores of Miami Beach, a famous destination and beach getaway for travelers.
—
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 May 2025
Women's sports bras were the bane of my teen existence.
—Boutayna Chokrane, Wired News, 19 Apr. 2025
There is no reason to assume that the ancient peoples of the Andes were somehow free of the same mental obscurations that Buddhists have famously identified as the bane of the human condition.
—Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2025
Wolfsbane is part of a larger suite of banes; compounds and derivatives include ratsbane, fleabane, and cow-bane, each name signaling a different poison.
—Laura Murphy, JSTOR Daily, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bane
Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 May 2025
Women's sports bras were the bane of my teen existence.
—Boutayna Chokrane, Wired News, 19 Apr. 2025
There is no reason to assume that the ancient peoples of the Andes were somehow free of the same mental obscurations that Buddhists have famously identified as the bane of the human condition.
—Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2025
Wolfsbane is part of a larger suite of banes; compounds and derivatives include ratsbane, fleabane, and cow-bane, each name signaling a different poison.
—Laura Murphy, JSTOR Daily, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bane
Noun
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Ancient 'pharaoh's curse' fungus shows promise in killing cancer cells.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
2 July 2025
-
The song breaks Booth's life-defining generational curse.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Just to name a few of the problems: gravity is too low, the radiation is too high, there’s no air, and the dirt is made of poison.—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
14 July 2025
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His rise is fueled by performance — raw charisma molded by handlers into populist poison.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
10 July 2025
Noun
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Alabama as the nemesis, from the Blackout game to the 2012 SEC championship, to second-and-26, then finally beating Alabama after Kelee Ringo’s pick-six … only to lose twice more to the Crimson Tide.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
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Superman’s nemesis, Lex Luthor, played with quicksilver menace by Nicholas Hoult, is now a fascist tech billionaire — the CEO of LutherCorp — who has his tentacles everywhere: in industry, the U.S. government, and foreign nations.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Vaccination Rates Are Declining Despite the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and the potential severity of the disease, vaccination rates are declining.—
Dave Wessner,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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Sitting or standing on the plate for just a few minutes can help with lymphatic drainage, in return reducing swelling, boosting the immune system, and lessening the chance of disease.—
Kristin Auble,
Vogue,
10 July 2025
Noun
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The politics at Oakland Unified have moved from contentious to outright toxic in the past two years, with the board split on key votes around financial decisions.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
31 May 2025
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Just last week, for example, the Trump administration, through its Environmental Protection Agency, proposed to withdraw two rules imposing air toxics and greenhouse gas limits on fossil-fuel power plants.—
Wayne Messam,
Sun Sentinel,
15 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bane. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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