BESTING Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

besting

verb

present participle of best

as in defeating

to achieve a victory over at last she's bested her card-playing mother at the game of hearts

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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 besting This was a record turnaround among SpaceX launches from Space Coast launch pads at 2 hours and 54 minutes besting October’s double launch that saw a Falcon 9 launch at CCSFS just eight hours, 42 minutes after a Falcon Heavy launch at KSC. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 July 2026 Trump ripped up that deal in 2018 and has been obsessed with besting it with his own. — Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026 Beaten by Evert in the 1975 Wimbledon semifinals, Navratilova turned the tide, besting Evert in the tournament in '78 and '79. — Eileen Finan, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026 The three-game series had a season-high attendance of 105,214, besting the three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers in May that drew 82,799. — Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 25 June 2026 Onley enjoyed a successful Tour last summer with only Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz besting him, and the latter rider the only one to finish faster in the white jersey (youth) classification. — Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 25 June 2026 After emerging from Hyundai in 2016, Genesis focused on premium features and a unique customer service model, besting its competition on price. — Scotty Reiss, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026 The Hong Kong exchange was first in the world by IPO funds raised last year — besting the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, which came second and third respectively — according to KPMG, which noted that strong momentum in 2025 continued in the first quarter of this year. — Evelyn Cheng,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 8 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for besting

Verb

Mbappe leads a strong French attack France reached the semi-finals after defeating Morocco 2-0, recording another clean sheet and reinforcing their status as the tournament favourites.

— Abdul Rehman, New York Times, 14 July 2026
In November, Bill Clinton was elected, defeating Bush by almost six million votes, and the temperature around the arts dropped.

— Louis Menand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026

Definition of defeating

Verb

England had seen off Italy on the Tuesday, with Spain overcoming Germany on the Wednesday.

— Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 July 2026
Exhibited for the first time outside of Sarajevo, the churning Socialist Realist homage invokes Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People in figuring partisans heroically overcoming their would-be Nazi aggressors.

— Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 10 July 2026

Definition of overcoming

Verb

New York investment bank Goldman Sachs and commercial banking giant Bank of America also posted strong second quarter results, both beating Wall Street expectations.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026
The trailer then cuts to Branagh’s Nikolai rescuing his new American friend and beating up a group of men in a restaurant.

— Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026

Definition of beating

Verb

Tokyo — Japan may have its first ever female prime minister, but her government’s attempts to avoid a royal succession crisis are making the chances of a woman taking the imperial throne ever slimmer.

— Hanako Montgomery, CNN Money, 14 July 2026
Since taking office, al-Zaidi has made a public show of cracking down on corruption.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026

Definition of taking

Verb

After not allowing any home runs in back-to-back starts against the Colorado Rockies, even conquering Coors Field’s hitter-friendly park, Imanaga surrendered three in Wednesday’s Game 2 win over the New York Mets.

— Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
Olivia Rodrigo Finally Hits the Downloads Chart’s Summit Rodrigo has come very close to conquering the Official Album Downloads chart in the past, but her first two studio LPs missed the throne by just one space.

— Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026

Definition of conquering

Verb

Atalanta’s De Ketelaere scored his first goals of the tournament, dispatching two from close range, while the metronomic Youri Tielemens was excellent in a slightly more advanced midfield role.

— Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 July 2026
And the first round this year certainly had its shining moments – from demolishing Paraguay to tidily dispatching Australia.

— Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026

Definition of dispatching

Browse Nearby Words

bestiary

besting

bestir

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“Besting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/besting. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of besting

verb

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