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 The year ended up with a record 109 missions, besting the 93 flown in 2024 when the 50th mission was on July 8. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2026 This was the highest average ticket price of the week, besting Hamilton’s average ticket price by $4. — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 4 Aug. 2026 Samsung promises seven years of OS and security updates, besting Motorola's commitment of three years for OS upgrades and five years for security updates. — Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 3 Aug. 2026 Miami hit 96 Thursday afternoon, besting the previous 95 degree record set in 2015. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 31 July 2026 Banks scored from seven of the shooting zones during the two rounds, besting six from Delle Donne and four from Shakira Austin. — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 28 July 2026 And by exceeding expectations so spectacularly on nomination morning, Widow’s Bay seized the thrust in the comedy category despite Hacks’s superior nomination count (24 nominations, besting its previous high of 17 nominations in 2022). — Joe Reid, Vulture, 25 July 2026 Financial markets have noticed, and CPU incumbents AMD and Intel are among the two best-performing chip stocks so far in 2026, up 128% and 149% respectively, besting Nvidia’s rise of 8%. — Kif Leswing, CNBC, 21 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for besting

Verb

The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon really lived up to their nickname, defeating Malawi 3-0 with all three goals coming in the first half.

— Emily Olsen, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Moody was elected the state's attorney general twice, defeating her Democratic challenger in 2022 by more than 20 points.

— Caroline Linton, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of defeating

Verb

Despite ongoing hurdles around interconnection queues and grid congestion, the scale of deployment shows developers are overcoming technical and regulatory barriers to support rising electricity demand from data centers and electrification.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Aug. 2026
Lorne Balfe From overcoming dyslexia with early synths to navigating AI, remote recording, and spatial audio, the blockbuster composer reveals how technology shapes his scores.

— Benny Har-Even, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of overcoming

Verb

Hershiser has enjoyed the intellectual challenge of mastering the mechanics of covering baseball for a TV audience.

— Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
Below, a makeup pro shares advice on understanding the difference between lip contouring and lip lining, as well as tips for mastering each.

— Beatrice Zocchi, Vogue, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of mastering

Verb

Earlier polling showed Donalds beating Jolly by 5 points, according to the RealClearPolitics average of two polls that surveyed voters on a hypothetical matchup between the two front-runners.

— Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 19 Aug. 2026
At the 2025 French Open, Loïs Boisson rode her wild card all the way to the semifinals, beating two top-10 players along the way.

— Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of beating

Verb

During this past weekend’s practice, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver again worked inside with the strength staff to begin practice instead of taking reps with the wideouts.

— Pete Sampson, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Consumers are being more proactive than ever and taking their health into their own hands.

— Amy O’Brien, Vogue, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of taking

Verb

The all-conquering Liverpool side of the 1980s were twice fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw, too.

— Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
In the eighteenth century, while Russia fixated on conquering Eurasia, Britain developed the steam engine; in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while Europeans fought over Africa, Americans mastered the assembly line.

— Evan Osnos, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of conquering

Verb

With fires now happening everywhere all at once, nations will be constrained in their ability to come to each other’s aid by dispatching firefighters and equipment.

— Bloomberg, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Weiss dramatically overhauled the program in May and June, dispatching half the on-air staff and several senior producers.

— Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Aug. 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 22 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of besting

verb

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