Synonyms of busting

busting

verb

present participle of bust

1

as in reducing

to bring to a lower grade or rank

the commander threatened to bust her for failing to salute

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• raising
• promoting
• advancing
• elevating
• hiring

2

as in bankrupting

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

gambling is a dangerous habit that has busted many unfortunate souls

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• enriching
• richening

3

as in disrupting

to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly

the butterfingered husband had busted more plates than he cared to remember

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

4

as in hitting

to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner

busted the storekeeper on the nose and was promptly arrested for it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hitting
• smacking
• knocking
• slapping
• punching
• slamming
• banging
• whacking
• pounding
• clapping
• striking
• cracking
• clipping
• kicking
• swiping
• nailing
• batting
• bashing
• hammering
• thumping
• pushing
• swatting
• tapping
• shoving
• socking
• poking
• licking
• slugging
• boxing
• bobbing
• clobbering
• bopping
• zapping
• jabbing
• clocking
• chopping
• thwacking
• tagging
• rapping
• clouting
• flicking
• bumping
• belting
• smiting
• bonking
• slogging
• stabbing
• walloping
• pasting
• bludgeoning
• biffing
• stroking
• whaling
• beating
• pummeling
• battering
• cuffing
• peppering
• slashing
• mauling
• mangling
• dumping
• pelting
• hanging one on
• stamping
• butting
• lambasting
• roughing
• buffeting
• bunging
• lashing
• whipping
• scuffing
• creaming
• prodding
• jostling
• kneeing
• drubbing
• sapping
• lacing
• bunting
• spearing
• switching
• flailing
• pommeling
• decking
• leveling
• clubbing
• felling
• thrashing
• bowling (down or over)
• braining
• cudgeling
• flogging
• knocking down
• conking
• sledgehammering
• flooring
• caning
• sledging
• sucker punching
• skulling
• beaning
• rabbit-punching

5

as in arresting

slang to take or keep under one's control by authority of law

the cops busted the revelers for drinking in public

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arresting
• seizing
• grabbing
• apprehending
• restraining
• pinching
• nailing
• detaining
• nicking
• capturing
• committing
• nabbing
• snatching
• catching
• running in
• pulling in
• trapping
• jailing
• collaring
• picking up
• imprisoning
• hooking
• bagging
• confining
• grappling
• snaring
• incarcerating
• handcuffing
• holding
• landing
• getting
• snapping (up)
• shackling
• locking (up)
• binding
• jugging
• interning
• fettering
• immuring
• enchaining
• manacling
• remanding
• trammeling
• rearresting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• discharging
• releasing
• springing
• loosening
• freeing
• liberating
• loosing
• emancipating
• unchaining
• unbinding

6

as in killing

to use up all the physical energy of

I had to bust my butt in order to get the project done on time

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of busting

Hundreds of thousands this year alone from big banks, big pharma, union-busting companies and tech companies. — Readers Speak, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2026

After being assigned full-time to the Highway Interdiction Unit, Bosco and Deputy Samuelson became one of the most successful K9 teams in the region, regularly busting drug traffickers traveling along highways and interstates in LaPorte County. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Gable suplexed Penta into the corner and went for a flying headbutt, but Penta caught him in an armbar, busting Gable’s shoulder. — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026

In the meantime, health officials recommend washing and cooking fresh vegetables to cut your risk of a gut-busting infection. — Pien Huang, NPR, 2 Aug. 2026

The course is built to walk parents step-by-step through mastering budget-busting expenses like diapers, wipes, formula, and groceries while building a supportive community of like-minded moms. — Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 31 July 2026

For five years running, Americans have had to live with wallet-fleecing, budget-busting, paycheck-eating inflation – including a painful stretch where the pace of price hikes hit a 40-year high. — Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 25 July 2026

In past years, the floating venue on the Hudson River has served up bonbons of genre-busting performances. — Rhoda Feng, New Yorker, 24 July 2026

Though cyclospora is a parasite and not a type of PFAS, studies have identified agricultural biosolids as a potential source of the gut-busting organism in the food supply. — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 23 July 2026