The turning point for the Karen meme, Schimkowitz says, came in May when a woman called the police after a Black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park asked her to put a leash on her dog in keeping with a local ordinance.
Source: tatoeba (8962352)
Ordinance
/ˈɔːdɪnəns/
Synonyms for "ordinance" (128 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (26)
Noun(8 words)
Preposition(1 words)
by law
Strong matches (38)
Related words (64)
measuremitzvahmode of worshipmoralmysterynormobservanceofficeorderorder of worshipordonnancepracticepreceptprescribed formprescriptprescriptionprincipiumprincipleproclamationpronouncement
Adverb(1 words)
more swedish lag
Determiner(1 words)
most written law
Adjective(4 words)
municipal building codemunicipal policystate government rulewritten statutes
Noun(14 words)
municipal meeting topicsnorms and lawsobservanceofficial regulationorder maintaining lawsordinationpraetor's edictpublic edictriteritualstatutetanzimtime place rulestribal council decisions
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: regulation, act, act against, appointment, bill.
- Sentence evidence is available for ordinance, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "ordinance".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "ordinance"
Keep "ordinance" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "ordinance" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "ordinance", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "ordinance" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
11 entriesMore specific
5 entriesCollocations
6 entriescity ordinancelocal ordinancenoise ordinancestate ordinancetraffic ordinancezoning ordinance
Inflections
1 entriesTranslations
32 translations across 20 languages.
Bulgarian
2 entries- декрет noun (edict, decree, order)
- указ noun (edict, decree, order)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 條令 /条令 noun (edict, decree, order)
- 條例 /条例 noun (edict, decree, order)
- 法令 noun (edict, decree, order)
Finnish
2 entries- käsky noun (edict, decree, order)
- määräys noun (edict, decree, order)
French
1 entries- décret noun (edict, decree, order)
German
4 entries- Anordnung noun (edict, decree, order)
- Dekret noun (edict, decree, order)
- Edikt noun (edict, decree, order)
- Erlass noun (edict, decree, order)
Hungarian
1 entries- rendelet noun (edict, decree, order)
Indonesian
1 entries- ordonansi noun (edict, decree, order)
Irish
1 entries- reacht noun (edict, decree, order)
Japanese
2 entries- 条令 noun (edict, decree, order)
- 条例 noun (edict, decree, order)
Kazakh
1 entries- жарлық noun (edict, decree, order)
Korean
2 entries- 법령 noun (edict, decree, order)
- 조례 noun (edict, decree, order)
Latin
1 entries- ordinatio noun (edict, decree, order)
Macedonian
2 entries- декре́т noun (edict, decree, order)
- у́каз noun (edict, decree, order)
Maltese
1 entries- ordinanza noun (edict, decree, order)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- forordning noun (edict, decree, order)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- forordning noun (edict, decree, order)
Polish
1 entries- ordynacja noun (edict, decree, order)
Russian
1 entries- ордона́нс noun (edict, decree, order)
Swedish
1 entries- förordning noun (edict, decree, order)
Vietnamese
1 entries- điều lệ noun (edict, decree, order)
Sample sentences
12 total sentences available.
The attempts to overturn the ordinance still need to be passed by Congress.
Source: tatoeba (10677144)
The new ordinance has been repealed.
Source: tatoeba (12225046)
From today on this ordinance is history.
Source: tatoeba (12225049)
Showing 4 of 12 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "ordinance"?
Closest matches include regulation, act, act against, appointment, bill.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "ordinance"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.