CANKERING Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

cankering

verb

present participle of canker

as in degrading

to lower in character, dignity, or quality such shameless ambulance chasing cankers the legal profession

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cankering

Verb

Germany's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
Moscow no longer hopes to win by merely capturing cities, or even by degrading Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

— Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of degrading

Verb

With seven months left in his term, Macron’s approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s growing debt and deficit and deteriorating public services.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
In schools, lead can come from deteriorating paint or from old plumbing, where water that sits unused in pipes can pick up lead.

— Rebecca Smullin Dawson, The Conversation, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of deteriorating

Verb

Could something so commonplace really be slowly poisoning people?

— Sean McCann, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
The court heard how the former nurse, now 36, attacked babies in her care by administering air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of poisoning

Verb

Deterioration is exacerbated if water reaches the steel rebar, corroding from inside the concrete mass and thereby weakening the integrity of the wall.

— Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Those states’ experiences show that weakening graduation requirements reduces accountability for schools.

— Neetu Arnold, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of weakening

Verb

And by engaging with these powerful militaries, the group reinforced its self-image as a major regional player that was uniquely capable of liberating the Muslim world from corrupting American and Israeli influence.

— April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of corrupting

Verb

The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president.

— Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.

— Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 24 June 2026

Definition of humiliating

Verb

Stalter made a statement with her look at the 2025 Emmys, too, subverting the event’s formal dress code.

— Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
Ouweleen, who took over the top job following the retirement of longtime leader Mike Lazzo in 2022, stressed that the network retains its commitment to subverting expectations even as formats change.

— Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of subverting

Verb

Of course, those tires were severely flat-spotted and had to be changed, but that’s better than damaging the car’s bodywork or suspension.

— Jerry Perez, The Drive, 24 Sep. 2026
But experts like geoscientist Rajendran say construction has caused damage in other communities where hydropower projects are being built, including damaging mountain springs, causing homes to crack and even landslides.

— Mamita Bhandari, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of damaging

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.

Browse Nearby Words

cankered

cankering

cankers

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cankering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cankering. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of cankering

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

heterodox

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes