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sort

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noun

ˈsȯrt

Synonyms ofsort next

:a group set up on the basis of any characteristic in common:class,kind

:one approximating the character or qualities of another

asort of latter-day Abe Lincoln

:person,individual

he's not a badsort

archaic:group,company

archaic:method or manner of acting:way,manner

:character,nature

people of an evilsort

:a letter or character that is one element of a font

:a character or piece of type that is not part of a regular font

:an instance ofsorting

a numericsort of a data file

sort

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verb

sorted;sorting;sorts

transitive verb

:to put in a certain place or rank according to kind, class, or nature

sort apples

sort mail

:to arrange according to characteristics:classify

—usually used without

sort out colors

chiefly Scotland:to put to rights:put in order

:to examine in order to clarify

—used without

sorting out his problems

:to free of confusion:clarify

—used without

waited until thingssorted themselves out

intransitive verb

:to join or associate with others especially of the same kind

sort with thieves

:agree,harmonize

his benign viewsorts badly with reality—

Henry Trewhitt

:search

sort through some old papers

sortable

ˈsȯr-tə-bəl How to pronounce sort (audio)

adjective

sorternoun

Phrases

after a sort

:in a rough or haphazard way

plays the piano,after a sort

all sorts of

:many different:all kinds of

knowsall sorts of people

of sorts orof a sort

:in some respects but not entirely or truly

a vacationof sorts

out of sorts

:somewhat ill

:grouchy,irritable

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Choose the Right Synonym forsort

type,kind,sort,nature,description,character mean a number of individuals thought of as a group because of a common quality or qualities.

type may suggest strong and clearly marked similarity throughout the items included so that each is typical of the group.

one of three basic bodytypes

kind may suggest natural grouping.

a zoo seemingly having animals of everykind

sort often suggests some disparagement.

thesort of newspaper dealing in sensational stories

nature may imply inherent, essential resemblance rather than obvious or superficial likenesses.

two problems of a similarnature

description implies a group marked by agreement in all details belonging to a type as described or defined.

not all acts of thatdescription are actually illegal

character implies a group marked by distinctive likenesses peculiar to the type.

research on the subject so far has been of an elementarycharacter

Examples ofsort in a Sentence

Noun Whatsort of car do you drive? He's not a badsort. She's not thesort to complain. The program did a numericsort of the data.Verb She started tosort the mail. Theysorted the winners from the losers. The program cansort data alphabetically or numerically.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

Noun

In fact, the notion of a charter for Chicago is having a moment ofsorts.—

David Greising,Chicago Tribune, 28 Mar. 2025Newsom launched a podcast in March, and his early guests included a MAGA A-List ofsorts.—

David Mark,The Washington Examiner, 28 Mar. 2025

Verb

Robots handle warehouse tasks like picking andsorting, speeding up operations.—

Expert Panel®,Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025First, the researcherssortedthe infinity of ways to cut the triangle into five unique classifications.—

Lyndie Chiou,Scientific American, 27 Mar. 2025See All Example Sentences forsort