Synonyms of breaking

breaking

verb

present participle of break

1

as in disrupting

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly

hated telling her that I had broken her favorite glass vase

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disrupting
• fracturing
• shattering
• fragmenting
• disintegrating
• destroying
• splitting
• reducing
• ruining
• smashing
• busting
• dismembering
• riving
• wrecking
• crushing
• blasting
• breaking up
• cracking
• pulverizing
• exploding
• bursting
• chipping
• grinding
• detonating
• popping
• splintering
• powdering
• atomizing
• shivering
• blowing up
• slivering
• imploding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• repairing
• fixing
• rebuilding
• healing
• reconstructing
• patching
• renovating
• mending
• reconditioning
• doctoring

2

as in stopping

to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end

the final vote broke the deadlock

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stopping
• ending
• ceasing
• halting
• quitting
• delaying
• suspending
• dropping
• finishing
• discontinuing
• cutting off
• breaking off
• laying off
• concluding
• shutting off
• checking
• cutting out
• leaving off
• packing (up or in)
• giving over
• knocking off
• breaking up
• completing
• canning
• blocking
• desisting (from)
• having done with
• impeding
• ruining
• putting the kibosh on
• holding
• pausing
• obstructing
• hindering
• closing (down)
• stemming
• staying
• destroying
• suppressing
• detaining
• dissolving
• deactivating
• squashing
• blockading
• scuttling
• holding back
• abolishing
• aborting
• arresting
• braking
• stamping
• squelching
• killing
• demolishing
• damming
• turning back
• calling
• stunting
• snuffing
• annulling
• clamping down
• reining (in)
• stanching
• kiboshing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• continuing
• carrying on
• running on
• advancing
• keeping up
• proceeding
• progressing
• driving
• stirring
• following through (with)
• propelling
• actuating
• impelling

3

as in reducing

to bring to a lower grade or rank

the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reducing
• demoting
• degrading
• downgrading
• dismissing
• busting
• sacking
• disrating
• laying off
• downsizing
• firing
• humiliating
• canning
• debasing
• lowering
• humbling
• abasing
• cashiering
• demeaning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• raising
• promoting
• advancing
• elevating
• hiring

4

as in deciphering

to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language

Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park mathematicians broke the Enigma code being used by the Nazis

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deciphering
• cracking
• decoding
• decrypting
• translating
• solving
• rendering
• unraveling
• figuring out
• working
• working out
• doping (out)
• descrambling
• puzzling (out)
• unscrambling
• unriddling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• coding
• encoding
• encrypting
• ciphering
• mixing (up)
• enciphering
• garbling
• jumbling (up)

5

as in pausing

to come to a temporary halt in one's activity

she broke from her ruminations to find that it was already dinnertime

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pausing
• hesitating
• interrupting
• holding one's horses
• stopping
• catching one's breath
• finishing
• ending
• breaking in
• ceasing
• terminating
• discontinuing
• lapsing
• laying off
• knocking off
• quitting
• letting up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• continuing
• advancing
• progressing
• extending
• persisting
• stretching
• prolonging

6

as in plowing

to cut into and turn over the sod of (a piece of land) using a bladed implement

farmers once broke fields with horse-drawn plows

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plowing
• raking
• furrowing
• cultivating
• tilling
• fallowing
• harrowing
• hoeing
• rototilling
• listing

7

as in violating

to fail to keep

had to confess that he had broken his promise not to share their conversation with anyone

Synonyms & Similar Words

• violating
• breaching
• transgressing
• contravening
• fracturing
• offending
• infringing (on or upon)
• ignoring
• disobeying
• traducing
• rebelling
• disregarding
• flouting
• resisting
• neglecting
• dismissing
• brushing (off)
• withstanding
• passing over
• blowing off
• defying
• scorning
• winking (at)
• tuning out
• slighting
• overlooking
• shrugging off
• overpassing
• pooh-poohing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• following
• observing
• conforming (to)
• complying (with)
• obeying
• serving
• submitting (to)
• yielding (to)
• regarding
• hearing
• marking
• watching
• attending
• minding
• listening (to)
• noticing
• noting
• surrendering (to)
• deferring (to)
• heeding

8

as in solving

to find an answer for through reasoning

Professor Bates broke the problem when she realized that it was possible to synthesize the necessary compounds

Synonyms & Similar Words

• solving
• unraveling
• answering
• resolving
• cracking
• figuring out
• deciphering
• working
• working out
• doping (out)
• puzzling (out)
• riddling (out)
• unriddling
• deducing
• reasoning
• deciding
• concluding
• inferring
• judging
• gathering
• guessing
• untying
• straightening (out)
• clearing (up)
• untangling
• speculating
• ironing out
• divining
• presuming
• assuming
• decoding
• conjecturing
• unscrambling

9

as in damaging

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of

I broke a tooth on the hard candy

Synonyms & Similar Words

• damaging
• marring
• injuring
• compromising
• weakening
• crippling
• eroding
• hurting
• impairing
• harming
• spoiling
• destroying
• crossing (up)
• undermining
• defacing
• disfiguring
• shattering
• ruining
• bloodying
• vitiating
• crabbing
• flawing
• deteriorating
• battering
• blemishing
• endamaging
• wounding
• wearing (away)
• wrecking
• scouring
• tarnishing
• demolishing
• smashing
• denting
• enfeebling
• enervating
• blighting
• torturing
• botching
• disabling
• mangling
• mutilating
• lacerating
• washing out
• devastating
• tormenting
• hamstringing
• pulverizing
• wiping out
• maiming
• decimating
• wasting
• gumming (up)
• crushing
• dinging
• queering
• annihilating
• clobbering
• dinting
• razing
• bashing
• tearing down
• totaling
• laming
• scourging
• dashing
• desolating
• doing in
• banging up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• repairing
• fixing
• rebuilding
• reconstructing
• patching
• helping
• revamping
• renovating
• mending
• healing
• curing
• reconditioning
• remedying
• rehabilitating
• rectifying
• improving
• revising
• doctoring
• remodeling
• editing
• enhancing
• refining
• perfecting
• bettering
• enriching
• ameliorating
• meliorating

10

as in dying

to stop functioning

after working for 30 years, the pump simply broke one day

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dying
• crashing
• failing
• stalling
• cutting out
• giving out
• breaking down
• sputtering
• wheezing
• malfunctioning
• conking (out)
• jamming
• fizzling
• acting up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• starting (up)

11

as in retreating

to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening

the herd of gazelles broke when they saw the lions racing toward them from the ridge above

Synonyms & Similar Words

• retreating
• fleeing
• flying
• bolting
• escaping
• running
• running away
• running off
• beating a retreat
• skedaddling
• bugging out
• beating it
• turning tail
• hightailing (it)
• making tracks
• getting (away)
• getting out
• scramming
• absconding
• skipping (out)
• making off
• eloping
• decamping
• clearing out
• lamming
• lighting out
• scarpering
• mizzling
• scatting
• skirring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• confronting
• facing
• defying
• daring
• braving
• remaining
• staying
• lingering
• hanging around
• abiding
• dwelling
• bearding
• sticking around
• tarrying

12

as in wearing

to use up all the physical energy of

the trek up the mountain just about broke me

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wearing
• killing
• exhausting
• tiring
• draining
• busting
• harassing
• burning out
• knocking out
• wearing out
• wearying
• wasting
• fatiguing
• fagging
• weakening
• washing out
• outwearing
• doing up
• tuckering (out)
• sapping
• doing in
• wearing to a frazzle
• debilitating
• frazzling
• enfeebling
• enervating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• strengthening
• activating
• energizing
• invigorating
• resting
• rejuvenating
• relaxing
• vitalizing
• unwinding

13

as in spreading

to become known

as soon as the scandal broke, the CEO fled the country

Synonyms & Similar Words

• spreading
• circulating
• leaking (out)
• coming out
• getting out
• unfolding
• revealing
• outing
• getting about
• disclosing
• getting around
• getting round
• telling
• spilling
• developing
• transpiring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• suppressing
• hiding
• concealing
• masking
• disguising
• hushing (up)
• secreting

14

as in bankrupting

to cause to lose one's fortune and become unable to pay one's debts

another bad investment could break him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bankrupting
• ruining
• busting
• reducing
• impoverishing
• beggaring
• wiping out
• pauperizing
• cleaning (out)
• straitening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• enriching
• richening

15

as in originating

to come into existence

the crisis had passed, and a new day was breaking

Synonyms & Similar Words

• originating
• beginning
• starting
• commencing
• being
• arising
• appearing
• forming
• emerging
• springing
• existing
• arriving
• living
• dawning
• actualizing
• engendering
• setting in
• lasting
• breathing
• materializing
• continuing
• surviving
• coming on
• subsisting
• persisting
• shaping (up)
• enduring
• coalescing
• cohering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ending
• stopping
• finishing
• ceasing
• terminating
• halting
• concluding
• discontinuing
• dissolving
• disappearing
• quitting
• vanishing
• dying
• evaporating
• departing
• desisting
• expiring
• perishing
• passing away

16

as in veering

to depart abruptly from a straight line or course

the running back broke to his left before running out of bounds

Synonyms & Similar Words

• veering
• cutting
• circling
• bowing
• curving
• turning
• wandering
• swerving
• yawing
• sweeping
• arching
• bending
• curling
• sheering
• weaving
• zagging
• twisting
• zigging
• rounding
• skewing
• pivoting
• arcing
• winding
• spiraling
• looping
• hooking
• coiling
• deviating
• straying
• slewing
• zigzagging
• wheeling
• wavering
• crooking
• about-facing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightening

17

as in lowering

to diminish the price or value of

distressing economic news that will break many energy stocks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reducing
• lowering
• devaluing
• sinking
• shrinking
• depressing
• downgrading
• attenuating
• devaluating
• cheapening
• depreciating
• writing down
• writing off
• marking down
• debasing
• compressing
• demonetizing
• underestimating
• undervaluing
• moderating
• contracting
• abridging
• lessening
• downsizing
• underrating
• dwindling
• underpricing
• deflating
• de-escalating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• enhancing
• upgrading
• appreciating
• marking up
• inflating
• increasing
• adding
• extending
• blowing up
• bloating
• expanding
• raising
• multiplying
• swelling
• augmenting
• escalating
• enlarging
• maximizing
• overestimating
• boosting
• amplifying
• heightening
• compounding
• dilating
• overvaluing
• upping
• overrating
• overpricing
• ballooning
• aggrandizing

18

as in exceeding

to go beyond the limit of

a menu with prices that is likely to break the budgets of all but the wealthiest of diners

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exceeding
• surpassing
• transcending
• outrunning
• overstepping
• overshooting
• outreaching
• invading
• overreaching
• overrunning
• encroaching
• trespassing
• entrenching
• overdoing
• infringing
• overpassing
• overusing
• overworking
• overutilizing

19

as in surfacing

to penetrate the surface (as of water) from below

dolphins were breaking all around the boat

Synonyms & Similar Words

• surfacing
• emerging
• rising
• broaching

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dropping
• sinking
• plunging
• drowning
• diving
• submerging
• foundering
• submersing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of breaking

Shortstop Miguel Rojas, who botched a grounder to his left earlier in the inning that enabled a run to score, was late breaking to cover third, leaving the bag wide open. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Hazards include sneaker waves, strong rip currents, and large breaking waves. — Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 8 July 2026

Sign up for PEOPLE‘s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026

More than 29,000 tickets have sold, 70% of which went to first-time buyers, breaking a New York City attendance record for women’s sports. — Diane Brady, Fortune, 7 July 2026

The planet’s oceans are at unprecedented temperatures for this time of year, breaking the all-time June record, according to new data, with alarming implications for global weather and marine life. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 1 July 2026

Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. — Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 30 June 2026

This is a breaking news story that will be updated as more information becomes available. — Riley Rourke, CBS News, 30 June 2026

Jacie Sellars is the morning breaking news reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. — Arkansas Online, 30 June 2026

Phrases Containing breaking

• breaking point