BRUSHING Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

brushing 1 of 2

verb (1)

present participle of brush

as in flowing

to move or proceed smoothly and readily a pop star brushing past a crowd of autograph seekers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

brushing

2 of 2

verb (2)

present participle of brush

as in kissing

to pass lightly across or touch gently especially in passing spiderwebs brushed her cheek as she walked through the basement

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 brushing

Verb

In one scene, Evans stands completely naked in the shower, brushing his teeth with the bathroom door wide open and the cameras rolling, as Fielder stands awkwardly nearby. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 What if brushing your hair could do far more than simply detangling? — Laura Sandroni, Vogue, 16 Oct. 2026 Exhausted by administrators continuously brushing off the toxic hate, her family is taking the district to court. — Staff, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026 Buddy, a touchscreen bedside alarm clock designed for kids, turns chores like brushing teeth and picking up toys into—almost—fun. — Richard Eisenberg, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 The Child Mind Institute notes that losing a close friendship can be emotionally painful for young people, and urges adults to take those experiences seriously rather than brushing them off. — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 12 Oct. 2026 All residents and other property owners who have experienced water outages, low water pressure, or both, are advised to boil all water or use bottled water for drinking, cooking, preparing baby food or brushing their teeth, the news release said. — Reed Williams, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026 The brand describes the formula as peroxide-free and positions the 460 nm visible blue light, PAP toothpaste and light-guiding brush head as one whitening system used during brushing. — Advertorial, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026 Researchers filmed 98 young adults brushing to the best of their ability. — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for brushing

Verb

About two-thirds of S&P 500 returns since 2024 have come from 42 AI stocks and almost all of the venture dollars this year are flowing into AI, with some firms nearing trillion-dollar valuations.

— Diane Brady, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
There's a substantial amount of money flowing through the political texting business, and the people sending these messages have financial reasons to keep doing it.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of flowing

Verb

The trailer begins as Ziegler’s Mae frantically asks family friend Benny, played by a sleepy Rob Lowe, for help after her big mistake — kissing the wrong brother between Graham Phillips’ Andrew and Elias Kacavas’ Theo.

— Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
Shortly after, Lara said her friend was kissing the man near a wall before the pair disappeared.

— Taylor Galgano, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of kissing

Verb

After a brief safety lesson on navigating the course and its cables, participants can ride a zip line into the park, gliding 60 feet above the quarry floor at speeds exceeding 30 mph.

— Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026
With a pair of real horns, one of them plays the bull by gliding toward the fuchsia bullfighting cape.

— Eyder Peralta, NPR, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of gliding

Verb

Like almost winning a race, almost shaving a second off my time for the 3200m run, my event in high school, the one that got me into college, a recruit for someone else to gamble on.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
The point-shaving scheme resulted in more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of shaving

Verb

The system can also move with the trailer’s sliding suspension.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
His return this preseason was intentionally low-key, sliding onto the roster of the last-place Kings (22-60 last season) without much fanfare.

— Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of sliding

Verb

Three-times married, his was to be a literary career pock-marked by substance abuse issues leading to a peripatetic existence drifting from one august institution to another.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026
Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of drifting

Verb

One company might allow isolating employee endpoints automatically but require human approval before touching production.

— Asaf Wiener, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Two employees did not wash their hands and/or change gloves in between touching personal phones and going back to food preparation.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026