1
as in to brush
to pass lightly across or touch gently especially in passing
accidentally nudged me as they squeezed past
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to urge
to try to persuade (someone) through earnest appeals to follow a course of action
the car salesman nudged me into taking a test-drive, even though I had said that I was just looking
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of nudge
Matt Richardson, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Other winners are first-timers, including L’Oréal, which nudged Procter & Gamble off the throne in the soaps and cosmetics category.
—Matthew Heimer, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
Max Zahn, ABC News, 12 Dec. 2025
Eggs slide right out at a tilt of the wrist, potstickers pop free with a gentle nudge.
—Olivia Tarantino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nudge
Verb
Oselote/Getty Images While gold and gold investing may have felt ubiquitous in recent years, in the past few months, silver has nudged the precious metal out of the spotlight a bit.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 21 Jan. 2026
Other winners are first-timers, including L’Oréal, which nudged Procter & Gamble off the throne in the soaps and cosmetics category.
—Matthew Heimer, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
Noun
In the aftermath of the Fed’s rate cut on Wednesday, the yield on a 10-year Treasury bond ticked slightly upward, defying the nudge downward by the central bank.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 12 Dec. 2025
Eggs slide right out at a tilt of the wrist, potstickers pop free with a gentle nudge.
—Olivia Tarantino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nudge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nudge
Verb
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Ways to curb water use Monroe officials urged residents to fix leaks and running toilets, keep showers brief and turn off faucets while brushing teeth, shaving and washing dishes.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Jan. 2026
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This will brush South-Central Texas, sending temperatures tumbling for the weekend.—
Mary Wasson,
Austin American Statesman,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Professionals are implicitly urged to respond faster, compress the calendar and add more tracking to show work in motion.—
Dilan Gomih,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Manhattan prosecutors urged a judge on Wednesday to set a July trial date in Luigi Mangione's state murder case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, two months before jury selection in his federal death penalty case.—
MICHAEL R. SISAK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The push for super intelligence sits rather blithely next to the beliefs of those tech masters of the universe trying to max out their looks and lifestyle for eternal life.—
David Bloom,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The updates mark Google’s push toward an agentic web, where browsers do more than display pages and instead help users get things done faster.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The clip captured Bugay kissing Martinez and accepting the proposal while standing on the bridge.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
26 Jan. 2026
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Stunned, Naim pulls away before grabbing Ryan’s head to kiss him back.—
Natalia Winkelman,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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However, Ederheimer added that mandatory minimum sentences may not actually encourage violent offenders not to commit crimes, further adding to the complex balance of maintaining justice and community safety.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
24 Jan. 2026
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In several high-profile cases, parents say AI chatbots encouraged their teens to commit suicide.—
Abby McCloskey,
Boston Herald,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Drift through the crowd as the smell of smoky jerk chicken and grilled cheese mingles with fresh lumpia, vegan soul bowls, and small-batch kombucha.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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The Store offers flavors such as buffalo, garlic parmesan, barbecue, sweet chili, Torrington Hot, mango habanero, Jamaican jerk, spicy harissa, lemon pepper, Marsala, spicy Mediterranean, Tunisian buffalo and garlic hot.—
Pamela McLoughlin,
Hartford Courant,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Vahid Alvandifar’s narrative feature debut, made on a shoestring budget, touches on big themes with gorgeous Iranian scenery as the backdrop.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Jan. 2026
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If you’re headed out into mixed conditions and never want to touch a strap or ratchet a binding again, this is the snowshoe for you.—
Benjamin Tepler,
Outside,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nudge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nudge. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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