EN

Synonyms for try

44 synonyms
6 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

put keep make an effort strive hear test attempt seek

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. To strive

make an effort, strive, put, keep, push, break the back of, touch down, apply oneself

2. Hear — to test, to work out. To put on trial

hear, judge, adjudicate, arbitrate, adjudge, doom dated

3. Test — to test, to work out. To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality…

test, prove, examine, make trial of dated, essay dated

4. Attempt — to attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive

attempt, endeavor US, endeavour UK, mint UK

Other

seek, struggle, taste, experiment, sample, trial, aim, refine, practice US, practise UK, exercise, strain, stress

Noun

1. Go — an attempt

go, stab, whirl, bash

2. Tasting — an act of tasting or sampling

tasting, sampling

Other

effort, offer, extra point, try-out

Definitions

v. 1
To attempt; to endeavour. Followed by infinitive.
Can you start the car? —I'll try (to).
v. 2
To test, to work out. To prove by experiment; to apply a test to, for the purpose of determining the quality; to examine; to prove; to test.
to try weights or measures by a standard; to try a person's opinions
n. 1
An attempt.
I gave unicycling a try but I couldn’t do it.
n. 2
An act of tasting or sampling.
I gave sushi a try but I didn’t like it.

Related words

Word family: trying tryna
Phrases: try-out try one's luck try conclusions try me try on try one's wings try someone's patience good try

Choose the right word

or Try?

Try is the most comprehensive of these words.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

put It was ordered that the classroom be put in order.
keep The cold weather may keep the plants from budding.
strive Do you strive to be the best version of yourself?
hear I don't want to hear any more of your complaining.
test If he is absent, we will not have an English test.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
try		rising
put		rising
keep		rising
strive		steady
hear		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

2 letters: go¹
3 letters: put¹, aim¹
4 letters: keep¹, hear¹, test¹, push¹, seek¹, mint¹, doom¹, stab¹, bash¹
5 letters: judge¹, offer², trial², prove¹, taste¹, essay², whirl¹
6 letters: effort², stress¹, sample², strain¹, strive¹, refine²
7 letters: attempt², examine³, tasting², adjudge²
8 letters: practice², exercise³, struggle², sampling², endeavor³, practise²
9 letters: endeavour³, arbitrate³
10 letters: experiment⁴, adjudicate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (offer² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: essayer
Italiano: saggiare
Español: probar
Deutsch: ausprobieren
Català: assajar