1
as in bitter
causing intense discomfort to one's skin
a biting wind that only the toughest football fans were willing to endure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
the biting comments by the pundits about the government's inaction
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of biting
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Dec. 2025
While often lumped in with punk, the Fall experimented with multiple styles over the years, with Smith’s biting wit and inimitable delivery serving as constants.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Kerry Breen, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2026
Is this a biting farce about the vacuities of celebrity industry?
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Adjective
The non-biting midge resembles a rice grain and survives in damp moss and algae along the Antarctic Peninsula.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Dec. 2025
While often lumped in with punk, the Fall experimented with multiple styles over the years, with Smith’s biting wit and inimitable delivery serving as constants.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Verb
Attorney General Pam Bondi later said a person had been arrested in the biting incident.
—Kerry Breen, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2026
Is this a biting farce about the vacuities of celebrity industry?
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for biting
Adjective
-
This is a fairly faithful rendition of the original, with bushy broccoli rabe as the bitter green of choice.—
Shilpa Uskokovic,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
-
After their murders, their families sat in the bitter cold and grieved, waiting for the prime minister, Imran Khan, to come and mourn with them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Tom Lester played Eb Dawson, the Douglases' sarcastic young farmhand.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The worse things are going, the more bitter and sarcastic my humor sometimes gets.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Safety Kam Curl made a sliding catch at the Rams’ 22, and sucking the oxygen out of the 60,253 at Soldier Field.—
Adam Grosbard,
Oc Register,
19 Jan. 2026
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This includes applying a tourniquet and cutting, sucking or icing the wound.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The numbers mark a sharp reversal from a spike in violence during the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The blazer of Middleton’s look included sharp shoulders with sinuous lapels and angular pockets at the waist.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
But it’s set apart from the rest of her work by a long, satirical section sending up gothic fiction and its fans.—
Erin Somers,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
-
But the tone is often more satiric than somber, Park highlighting Man-su’s foibles and insecurities.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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After a stinging loss at Wichita State over the weekend, Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway is still figuring out why the Tigers aren't playing their best.—
Corinne S Kennedy,
Memphis Commercial Appeal,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The itchy rash is accompanied by intense stinging, pain, and burning.—
Fara Rosenzweig,
Outside,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Much of the comedy in this action-comedy arrives via barbed exchanges between the constantly bickering James and Jonny.—
Richard Kuipers,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Crews on Monday appear to be adding barbed wire atop cement barricades already wrapped around the building — measures no doubt added in response to a consistent group of protestors committed to gathering daily outside the complex near Fort Snelling.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
One spring day in Paris many years ago, my wife, Diana, a most penetrating photographer, capable of seeing like no one else, decided, as an experiment, to walk across the city blindfolded.—
Hisham Matar,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Aug. 2024
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Since the war began in Gaza, more than six months ago, the Israeli magazine +972 has published some of the most penetrating reporting on the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct.—
Isaac Chotiner,
The New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Biting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/biting. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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