Thesaurus results for BONKING

bonking

verb

present participle of bonk

as in smacking

to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner an overhead branch suddenly fell and bonked him on the head

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 bonking Seffrin and his team note that their study suggests that men might be able to thwart bonking by running slower in the first half of a marathon and getting continually faster as the race progresses, a pacing strategy known as negative splitting. — Claire Maldarelli, Scientific American, 2 July 2026 Those misses rarely occurred in season two, but three episodes into this season, the bat is flying wildly around the stadium, bonking people in the head in a freak mass-casualty bat-event. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 22 June 2026 Watch the baby birds bonking at the video at the top of the story. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bonking

Verb

The first mode is a more simple impact detonation — simply put, smacking the asteroid's surface to create a shallow crater, in which a nuclear device is exploded.

— Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 7 July 2026
Gill saved the first shot in the penalty shootout against Germany, diving to his left and smacking away the ball headed for the back of the net.

— Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Money, 7 July 2026

Definition of smacking

Verb

Besides hitting their price target — about $350 per square foot — Talbot and his wife, Marisol, were taken with the modern design with a 14-foot clerestory ceiling.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026
To the moon All the political developments of the last 24 hours have not stopped stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 53,000 for the first time ever.

— Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 7 July 2026

Definition of hitting

Verb

There was briefly some concern earlier this year that Chestnut wouldn’t be able to participate in the 2026 competition after he was arrested for allegedly slapping a man in an Indiana bar.

— Kyla Guilfoil, NBC news, 5 July 2026
Chestnut competed in the event while serving a 180-day probation sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from drunkenly slapping a man in an Indiana bar earlier this year.

— Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026

Definition of slapping

Verb

Halty embraces the way Senda Athletics is punching above its weight as a sportswear brand in a tournament full of global brands and stars.

— Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
An impromptu blind date with a handsome rapist ends with Esther punching him square in the nose, his blood gushing through her fingers.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026

Definition of punching

Verb

Prosecutors allege Clay intentionally drove his car onto the sidewalk, sped toward a crowd of pedestrians and hit eight of them before slamming into a gate.

— Jason Green, Mercury News, 7 July 2026
Paul has accused Mortensen in court of stalking and, on one occasion, slamming her head into the dashboard of his truck.

— Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026

Definition of slamming

Verb

Larry Hayes, 86, and Bill Moniz, 79, hit the tennis courts in Mountain View three to four times a week — whacking balls across the net as teammates for one to three hours a week.

— Panashe Matemba-Mutasa, Mercury News, 27 May 2026
And the crowd clearly expected that pucks whacking the nets would be at a premium in this series, too.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 May 2026

Definition of whacking

Browse Nearby Words

bonkers

bonking

bonks

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Bonking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bonking. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of bonking

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

fulcrum

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes