reply
Americanverb (used without object)
-
replies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replied,
past participle, past
-
replying
present participle
-
to make answer in words or writing; answer; respond.
to reply to a question.
- Synonyms:
- rejoin
-
to respond by some action, performance, etc..
to reply to the enemy's fire.
-
to return a sound; echo; resound.
-
Law. to answer a defendant's plea.
verb (used with object)
-
replies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replied,
past participle, past
-
replying
present participle
verb
-
to make answer (to) in words or writing or by an action; respond
he replied with an unexpected move
-
(tr; takes a clause as object) to say (something) in answer
he replied that he didn't want to come
-
law to answer a defendant's plea
-
to return (a sound); echo
noun
-
an answer made in words or writing or through an action; response
-
the answer made by a plaintiff or petitioner to a defendant's case
Synonym Usage
See answer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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replysimple
-
repliessimple
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have repliedperfect
-
has repliedperfect
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am replyingprogressive
-
are replyingprogressive
-
is replyingprogressive
-
have been replyingperfect progressive
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has been replyingperfect progressive
Past
-
repliedsimple
-
had repliedperfect
-
was replyingprogressive
-
were replyingprogressive
-
had been replyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reply
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English replien (verb), from Middle French replier “to fold back, reply,” from Latin replicāre “to unroll, fold back”; see replicate
Explanation
Whenever you say something in response to someone, you reply. If your teacher asks why you're late to school, you might reply, "Sorry, I missed the bus." To answer back or respond is to reply, and whatever you say is also a reply. Your reply could be a long quotation from a Shakespeare soliloquy, or it might be a simple, silent nod of the head. You can also reply using a letter, a text, or an email. Reply comes from the Late Latin replicare, which means both "to reply or repeat," but also "to fold back."
Vocabulary lists containing reply
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:
OpenAI didn’t reply to MarketWatch’s request for comment on the numbers cited in the Financial Times report.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The Times reached out to Whitney’s representative for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply on Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Election Commission didn’t reply to a request for comment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
It was an odd reply, perhaps because he was flustered.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
I fumbled around for the right words before I finally sent a reply.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Asked by Fielder whether she’s ever told a lie in her life, she replies, “I don’t think so.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“That was unintended,” he replies, only digging himself in deeper when he explains that, like plumbers or electricians, he was there to do a job.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Another function is improving how companies show up in chatbot replies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
When Suvorova confronts her mother after finding the catalog, her mother replies: “Everyone was doing it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Abuela replies, “Maybe Lorca’s ghost has met the ghosts of my ancestors.”
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
I asked Rauh by email if he thought the campaign’s treatment of his estimates was proper; he replied that “it’s completely appropriate for public discourse and conclusions to cite the central scenario.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
I replied that I was—but I was really watching her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
When a reporter asked Mamdani about that this week, he replied flatly, “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that.”
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
When Tielemans was asked about it by Amazon Prime on Tuesday night, he replied with a "no comment".
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
"In better shape than his owner," Sancho replied.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
I realized that replying to complicated requests or problems in anger or haste was never smart, so I kept his rule to slow my response time down eight hours for future correspondence.
From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026
Local authorities were "promptly replying" to more than 800 calls from affected relatives, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Multiple meetings with us were never kept, and eventually he stopped replying.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at [email protected].
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Then, just when I’m starting to think that my applications were so bad the colleges didn’t even bother replying, there’s an envelope from Boston University waiting for me on the kitchen table.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
