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
Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025
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
Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 9 Apr. 2026
Pidgeon’s lip biting and hair tossing was also an intentional choice.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Adjective
France and Spain, by contrast, have centrist or center-left governments and favored a harder line and more biting retaliatory tariffs.
—Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2025
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
Verb
Almost all the animals euthanized in 2025 had behavioral or health issues, including biting, aggression or contagious diseases that presented a danger to other pets in the shelter.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 9 Apr. 2026
Pidgeon’s lip biting and hair tossing was also an intentional choice.
—Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for biting
Adjective
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Reminders come too with Emmy winner Jim Parsons, who is deliciously over-the-top as Ruth, Rose's bitter and controlling mother.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
13 Apr. 2026
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Gonzales and Herrera had previously been locked in a bitter battle for the Republican nomination for TX-23, advancing to a runoff election after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote.—
Lauren Peller,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Peters then offered a sarcastic parting line and left the set.—
Ryan Brennan
April 15,
Miami Herald,
15 Apr. 2026
-
By contrast, Lillian’s counterpart and best friend is cast member and former standup comedian Gina Ross, a sarcastic, iconoclastic, in-your-face performer.—
Lee Kelly,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Feeding Difficulties Because of their low muscle tone, many babies with PWS have a weak sucking reflex.—
Health,
Health,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Think of it like an aromatic dinner bell for sap-sucking insects.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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All that credit goes to the co-creators Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and director Tye Blue, who have crafted one of the sharpest books Broadway has seen in years.—
Dave Quinn,
PEOPLE,
13 Apr. 2026
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After that, they’re called thornbacks, a thornback being a bottom-feeding skatelike fish with sharp spikes running along its spine.—
David Sedaris,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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And that’s a risk that The Audacity is courting in a premiere that doesn’t care yet about turning its satirical targets into antiheroes, which is what Glatzer was doing on Better Call Saul and Succession.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
12 Apr. 2026
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Executive produced by Succession alum Jonathan Glatzer, who is also showrunner, the darkly satirical drama stars Billy Magnussen and Sarah Goldberg.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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What’s known as burning or stinging nettles has hairs along the stems that release a stinging, burning compound when touched.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2026
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The latter include non-stinging wasps, flies, and other insects that develop on or in a host, eventually killing it.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But when classes resumed this week for the first time since the Iran war began, coiled barbed wire blocked the Palestinian siblings’ path to the village center.—
Sam Metz,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Apr. 2026
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Nyuyen’s compound was surrounded by a 12-ft wall of barbed wire and guard posts.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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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 18 Apr. 2026.
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