CATCHES UP Synonyms: 105 Similar and Opposite Words

catches up

verb

present tense third-person singular of catch up

as in traps

to catch or hold as if in a net a young idealist who got caught up in the political fanaticism of the times

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fascinates

to hold the attention of as if by a spell completely caught up in opera ever since he saw La Traviata

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in interests

to hold the attention of so caught up in the game that she didn't note the passage of time

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in advises

to give information to catch me up on what's been happening at the office

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 catches up If your iron is already normal, supplements can still be helpful as your blood oxygen catches up. — Diana Helmuth, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026 For the Moon is Éric Baudelaire’s improvisatory collaboration with kids at the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, while Dan Sallitt’s What Can’t Be Mentioned catches up with characters from Sallitt’s acclaimed The Unspeakable Act. — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Aug. 2026 In a blind rage after watching his brother die, Duke catches up to one of their assailants and beats him to death — with a crowd watching. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 July 2026 Turning over most of the starting defense two years in a row, coupled with a brutal schedule, finally catches up with the Buckeyes. — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 15 July 2026 Motonui has long withstood that curse, but trouble catches up to them when disease spreads through the coconut trees and the fisherman report that their once plentiful catch has disappeared. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026 After tracking Krem's crew across the galaxy, Kara finally catches up with the Brigands on a hostile planet that orbits both a green and a yellow sun. — Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026 Suffice it to say that eventually the tale of childhood catches up with the adult Sasha (played by Amy Zimmer), a filmmaker, who attempts to make sense of her past and Jeremy’s fate by undertaking her own investigation, at several decades’ remove. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026 If infrastructure catches up, this could become one of the more important shifts in clean transportation. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for catches up

Verb

This approach traps companies in incremental optimization, which is building a better version of what already exists instead of building genuinely new things that customers could not have asked for yet.

— Nataliya Andreychuk, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
The cave was used to film scenes with Polyphemus, the Cyclops who traps Odysseus and his crew in his cave before devouring several of the men.

— Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of traps

Verb

Yet, what fascinates is that Aristotle’s God isn’t a typical divine being who summons and shepherds.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026
Meanwhile, what fascinates aspiring neurologist Makenzie Stovall is the idea that AI is trying to emulate the brain — an organ whose inner workings continue to leave researchers dumbfounded.

— ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of fascinates

Verb

With your sisters Kim and Kylie breaking into the acting world over the last couple of years, with American Horror Story, All’s Fair and The Moment, is acting something that still interests you?

— Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 21 Aug. 2026
There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to talk about what interests him, in the right context.

— R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of interests

Verb

Allegheny National Forest, just around 90 minutes from Erie, Pennsylvania, enchants with rolling peaks that reflect off calm, paddle-friendly waterways.

— Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 7 June 2026
Ella has shades of Holly Hunter's intense, workaholic producer Jane from Brooks' 1987 masterpiece Broadcast News, the smartest person in any room who both exhausts and enchants everyone around her.

— Esther Zuckerman, Time, 12 Dec. 2025

Definition of enchants

Verb

Despite Bret’s passionate insistence that his classmate is a serial killer, Croft tells him Robert is a good kid from a good family and sends him back to class.

— Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
The limited series tells the story of two sisters who go on the run after an act of vengeance goes wrong.

— Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026