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:
It’s also the hidden lesson of the history Campbell and Doshi relate in their essay.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
The most well-thought-out example is a Foreign Affairs essay published in August by Kurt M. Campbell and Rush Doshi, who served on the National Security Council during the Biden administration.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Days later, Amodei published a lengthy essay arguing that AI's mounting risks warranted a slowdown.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Mr. Lederman had hoped that his detractors would openly and passionately debate the points in his essay, but that didn’t happen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Enough energy and potential for us to develop them into a short story, a personal essay, or a poem for our final project.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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
He wrote essays and conducted oral interviews with UFW greats such as Hartmire and Gilbert Padilla who were essential to the union’s success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
He also started to write essays about his own past life.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
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
The movie also gives a funny account of the composer-guitarist Pat Metheny’s enraged accusations of “musical necrophilia” after Kenny G essayed a virtual duet with Louis Armstrong.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2021
Milt essayed, “We can have it ready in ten days. We’ll deliver it during the day while your husband is at work.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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
All eyes would otherwise be on Antony Sher, who is essaying this most daunting of tragic roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Barbican directed by Gregory Doran.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2016
He awoke from a delicious sleep with a sense of returning vigor in all his big limbs, and, essaying to throw out his left arm, behold!
From The Tree of Knowledge A Novel by Mrs. Baillie Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
