BANE Synonyms: 70 Similar and Opposite Words

bane

noun

ˈbān

Definition of bane

as in curse

a source of harm or misfortune regarding the new laborsaving machinery as a bane, the 19th-century Luddites went about destroying it in protest

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in poison

a substance that by chemical action can kill or injure a living thing a plant that is believed to be the bane of the wolf

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 bane Unpredictable weather is always the bane of eclipse chasing — and today's event has been no different. — Raf Sanchez, NBC news, 12 Aug. 2026 But what was designed as the solution has instead become the most contentious problem in tennis, a poster child for the law of unintended consequences and the bane of many players’ existence. — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 25 July 2026 United Airlines is getting rid of some of its middle seats, the bane of any airline passenger. — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 24 July 2026 Finger joint strains are the bane of long hours spent daily on the computer, which is what led Melvin Wong, founder and engineer at Airra Labs, to build a better computer mouse – the Rotary Mouse, which is currently on Kickstarter. — Shirl Leigh july 12, New Atlas, 12 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for bane

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bane

Noun

The film represents Universal trying to break the franchise’s box office curse.

— James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026
Related Stories Taibah, who also wrote the screenplay, plays Hayat, a fiercely independent young woman convinced that a generational curse will kill her on her 30th birthday.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of curse

Noun

Previous strategies for growing plants on Mars included rinsing these poisons out, bringing supplemental fertilizers from Earth, or avoiding Martian soil entirely and using hydroponics.

— Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026
The first image from the episode (see it above) shows Butters in what appears to be his backyard with the X-Pest exterminator guy, who has strapped on his tank of poison and has his sprayer wand at the ready.

— Tom Tapp, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of poison

Noun

Intrigue surrounds who will play which roles, and the identity of the nemesis.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026
Protecting Patrick Mahomes The Raiders’ best player — and a classic Patrick Mahomes nemesis — almost played for the Baltimore Ravens this season.

— Scott Chasen, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of nemesis

Noun

Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia are difficult to study, in part because diagnosing the disease early in people is challenging.

— Julie Moreno, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026
Younger demographics are being diagnosed with increasing cases of colon cancer, and people of color face disproportionately higher mortality rates from the disease.

— Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of disease

Noun

In late May, about 50,000 people in Orange County were evacuated because, at a Garden Grove site operated by GKN Aerospace, tanks holding a volatile hazardous chemical called methyl methacrylate were at risk of exploding or leaking toxics.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Munoz is an independent toxicologist working in collaboration with MAHA against pesticides and toxics.

— Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 10 July 2026