ASKING Synonyms: 72 Similar and Opposite Words

asking

verb

present participle of ask

as in interrogating

to put a question or questions to my coworkers asked me all about my trip to Machu Picchu

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in requesting

to make a request of ask the salesclerk for assistance

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in charging

to set or receive as a price they are only asking $300 for that antique grandfather clock

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in inviting

to request the presence or participation of a fixture on the party circuit, that couple is always asking people over for dinner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of asking Two physicians, Howard Israel and William Seidelman, wrote to JAMA in 1996 asking a simple question about where the bodies came from. — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026 OutKick is already basically banned from most WNBA events at this point, so don't depend on us asking them to elaborate. — Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026 For anyone asking whether this kind of analysis—unequal parts interpretation, speculation, and evaluation—will save a worrying figure, the query imparts its own futility. — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2026 Loneliness was measured using one question asking whether participants often felt lonely. — The Conversation Us, Scientific American, 8 Aug. 2026 In another video shared by outlet, Komoroski is seen sitting inside a car with her feet outside, asking to call her father. — Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026 But asking general questions about personal finance can help people understand complex financial terms. — ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026 Residents have been reporting surveys from a public relations firm asking about their views on the development. — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 And what this administration is asking us to do now is to turn our backs on them completely. — Chiara Eisner, NPR, 1 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for asking

Verb

In the case of the Azov and Aidar women, Russian negotiators were willing to consider their release, given that none of them had taken part in any direct fighting and that Russian investigators had finished interrogating them.

— Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Recognizing those forces in the world isn’t the same thing as interrogating them, and as a seasoned artist with real power in Hollywood, Gluck repeatedly mistakes implication for insight.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of interrogating

Verb

After neighbors complained last week about the diesel generators, Lisle Development Services Director Mike Smetana sent an email to CSquare requesting that the company stop using the temporary generators.

— Alicia Fabbre, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2026
Murphy did not return a phone call requesting comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of requesting

Verb

Cox shot the film in Almería, Spain (the picturesque backdrop for hundreds of spaghetti Westerns), as well as parts of Arizona, and there’s an inviting spaciousness to it.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026
More than 30 independent bookstores across North Texas are inviting readers to explore their shelves, collect passport stamps, and discover the communities that make each shop unique.

— CBS News Texas Staff, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of inviting

Verb

That includes checking a student's phone records and social media posts, going door to door at the student's dorm and questioning school staff and emergency contacts.

— Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
This astonishing gap left competitive automakers and Internet armchair critics questioning whether the Mustang GTD Competition was on street-legal rubber.

— Joel Feder, The Drive, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of questioning

Verb

Iran is demanding the US cease its attacks and end the blockade of Iranian ports, as well as lift sanctions, unfreeze Iranian assets and pay compensation for war damages.

— Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
These components are particularly important in a heavyweight torpedo, where propulsion, guidance, sensing and control systems must function under demanding underwater conditions.

— Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of demanding

Verb

Indeed, the movie opens with Ed quizzing an older Greek man he’s befriended on the Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester, before berating him for confusing his Bottega Veneta loafers for Sebago.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
Prosecutors spent the start of George’s testimony quizzing him on the organizational structure of the sheriff’s office, as well as how internal affairs investigations play out.

— Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 June 2026