essay
Americannoun
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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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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
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.
In an essay last Thursday in Stars and Stripes, Smith described being fired in terms that were impersonal, precise and chilling.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
Mr. Mandelbaum is an emeritus professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and author of “The American Way of Foreign Policy,” from which this essay is adapted.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
In his classic 1958 essay, “I, Pencil,” Leonard Read explained how a free-market economy brought together the necessary raw materials—wood, graphite, metal, rubber, paint—to make as apparently simple a product as a pencil.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026
"He brings us closer to our humanity in the same way some of the great '60s folk songwriters did," enthused Marcus Mumford in an essay for Time magazine.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
Mr. Willis published an essay, “Post-Mortuum Soiree,” in the next issue of his Home Journal, “the ‘demonstration,’ … is of sufficient extent and respectability to warrant grave attention.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
