essay
Americannoun
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essays
plural
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a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.
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anything resembling such a composition.
a picture essay.
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an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt.
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Philately. a design for a proposed stamp differing in any way from the design of the stamp as issued.
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Obsolete. a tentative effort; trial; assay.
verb (used with object)
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essays,
present (3rd person singular)
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essayed,
past participle, past
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essaying
present participle
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to try; attempt.
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to put to the test; make trial of.
noun
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a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively
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an attempt or endeavour; effort
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a test or trial
verb
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to attempt or endeavour; try
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to test or try out
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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essaysimple
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essayssimple
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have essayedperfect
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has essayedperfect
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am essayingprogressive
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are essayingprogressive
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is essayingprogressive
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have been essayingperfect progressive
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has been essayingperfect progressive
Past
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essayedsimple
-
had essayedperfect
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was essayingprogressive
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were essayingprogressive
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had been essayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of essay
First recorded in 1475–85; from Middle French essayer, from Late Latin exagium “a weighing,” from exag(ere) (unrecorded) “to examine, test,” literally, “to drive out, thrust out” (from Latin exigere; see exact) + -ium -ium
Explanation
A composition that is usually short and has a literary theme is called an essay. You should probably start writing your essay on "To Kill a Mockingbird" sometime before the bus ride to school the day it is due. As a noun, an essay is also an attempt, especially a tentative initial one. Your essay to make friends at your new school would probably work better if you actually spoke to other students. As a verb, to essay is to make an attempt. If you essay to run for student council, you might lose to the girl who promises more recess, longer lunches, and less homework.
Vocabulary lists containing essay
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Puerto’s essay also reflects the complexity of an experience like hers.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The original 12-song LP clocked in at a swift 33 minutes, while the special edition features a whopping 104 tracks, along with Costello’s 72-page essay about the album’s origins.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2026
Those are the words of a 22-year-old Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte in an essay for Huffpost, external back in 2014.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
His essay about his parents' deaths, in particular, earned a wide readership online.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
In December, after I had submitted my last essay, I took a train to London and boarded a plane.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Pène du Bois became deeply attached to Hopper and wrote some selfless essays interpreting and defending Hopper’s art.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Year: 2022 Compiled by: Dan Kois and Slate Staff Of note: Accompanied by several supplemental essays, including a ranking by Chris Molanphy of “The Top 5 Mob Movie Deaths of All Time.”
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
“So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country” is a collection of essays adapted from speeches he has given since 2007, many with straightforward titles, including “Let Judges Be Judges.”
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
"When you realize the impact the work will have, people can't help but weigh in," Diamos says -- which helps explain Amodei's many sprawling essays.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
In 1637 he finally published the Discourse on Method and three essays on mathematics and natural science.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In the second cast, Christine Shevchenko fell far short of Ms. Teuscher’s finesse, but she essayed the opening “Preghiera” movement with more of its requisite lilt and shimmer than Ms. Teuscher did.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
That section essayed — at the very least — to disqualify from federal office the Civil War rebels and, prospectively, anyone who tried to do the same thing again.
From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2023
Meanwhile, dos Santos — with an army of around 100,000 troops, many with years of jungle combat experience — essayed a role as a regional power broker, starting with neighboring countries.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
James Earl Jones, who essayed the role numerous times to great acclaim, cannily used the spotlight to advance the cause of civil rights in America.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2021
Searching for the Man who lives in him was perhaps what he really meant, because certainly no beast has essayed the boundless, infinitely inventive art of human hatred.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Two other Scandinavian greats, Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann, couldn’t resist essaying a part that passionately called out to them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
Here, Sinatra is clearly stretching the limits of what was possible for a popular singer—one can’t imagine any of his predecessors or contemporaries essaying a work as long and complex as this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
The actress was a member of the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic from 1972-75, essaying Lady Macbeth in 1972.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2020
Like all reflective objects though, the act of essaying has a twoness about it.
From Washington Post ● May 11, 2020
The novelty of a woman essaying those characters was a strong one, and served to draw out good houses.
From The Mormons and the Theatre or The History of Theatricals in Utah by John S. Lindsay
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