cheating 1 of 3

noun

1
as in deception
the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery a conscienceless adventuress who never earned anything except through cheating

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2
as in adultery
a sexual encounter or relationship between a married person and someone other than their spouse she swore that if there was ever any cheating, she'd leave in a heartbeat

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

cheating

2 of 3

adjective

as in dishonest

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cheating

3 of 3

verb

present participle of cheat
1
as in misrepresenting
to use dishonest methods to achieve a goal students who cheat on tests end up never knowing anything

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2
as in lying
to be sexually unfaithful he suspects that his girlfriend is cheating on him

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3
as in disappointing
to fall short in satisfying the expectation or hope of the daredevil survived his plunge over the falls with barely a scratch, having cheated death once again

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4
as in hustling
to rob by the use of trickery or threats a despicable confidence man who heartlessly cheated elderly people out of their savings

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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 cheating
Noun
In contrast to the president's rhetoric about election cheating, voting unfolded with relatively few problems. — Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 2026 In contrast to the president’s continued rhetoric about election cheating, voting so far has unfolded with relatively few problems. — ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026 The findings followed scrutiny of a Washington Post column criticizing AI cheating, as colleges nationwide confront how the technology is changing teaching and writing. — Heather Hollingsworth, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026 The risks are already visible in models that deploy agents capable of evading their guardrails, escaping their sandboxes, cheating to obtain their goals, and covering their tracks to conceal the cheating. — Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026 For example, if a model figures out a way to cheat to win a game, but the human running the training doesn’t spot the cheating, then the model will learn to cheat. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 The perception of cheating would likely cause trust in politics to crater even further. — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026 Extreme jealousy is another warning sign, Ray-Jones added, which may manifest as accusations of flirting or cheating. — Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026 Now there seems to be a petty attempt to call out cheating when no cheating took place. — Matt Calkins Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
Adjective
The solution, therefore, cannot rely solely on punitive anti-cheating measures or intrusive surveillance technologies. — Jason Benedict, Fortune, 7 July 2026
Verb
Later on, after the guests have left, this cheating convention makes Kaylee nervous. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 3 Nov. 2026 There are people out there saying that the Brewers are cheating. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026 There’s simply no evidence of widespread voter cheating anywhere. — Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026 With all respect to West’s previous cheating-on-television canon, War might be his finest adulterous work. — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 24 Oct. 2026 The risks are already visible in models that deploy agents capable of evading their guardrails, escaping their sandboxes, cheating to obtain their goals, and covering their tracks to conceal the cheating. — Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2026 The actress also had a juicy central role as a cheating wife alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn in the black comedy Clay Pigeons (1998), directed by David Dobkin. — Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 18 Oct. 2026 The attack on Hugging Face was then part of an elaborate attempt to evade being caught cheating. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 Police records say he and his then-girlfriend were involved in a fight over phones and allegations of cheating. — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cheating
  1. deception
  2. adultery
  3. dishonest
  4. misrepresenting
  5. lying
  6. disappointing
  7. hustling
  8. fraud
Noun
  • But the quarterback sneak has never worked well because of its deception.
    — Sam McDowell November 3, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026
  • The resulting models displayed resistance to monitoring, deception, and attempts at self-preservation.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of deception
Noun
  • The idea shows up in mythology—from Zeus transforming into every kind of animal to commit adultery to Psyche being warned that her new husband, Eros, would be grotesque—as well as in folklore and countless retellings of Beauty and the Beast.
    — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Specifically, Pickard said his understanding of the immunity deal is that his testimony about adultery and an inappropriate relationship cannot be used against him as part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
    — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of adultery
Adjective
  • The debate also took on an edgy, deeply personal tone, as the candidates repeatedly accused each other of being dishonest or misleading.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The other coach is dishonest and decides to strategically rank their players in a different order.
    — Dana Mackenzie, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of dishonest
Verb
  • The disadvantages Companies going all-in on AI during a rebrand face the possibility of misrepresenting themselves to candidates and investors.
    — Jane Miller, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Customers filed lawsuits alleging Bacelar was buying dogs on the cheap from breeders, then misrepresenting them as rescues and charging high adoption fees, The Times reported.
    — Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of misrepresenting
Verb
  • Mary is lying on the cloth and turning to cradle Jesus, who is lying next to her.
    — Artforum, Artforum, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The race grabbed headlines in recent weeks when Ramaswamy's campaign released an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother, who accused her daughter of lying about her childhood.
    — Ian McKinney, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of lying
Verb
  • Indeed, the streamer’s engagement momentum has been disappointing Wall Street analysts and management alike, with intense competition for audiences’ attention from the likes of YouTube and TikTok as the background.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The defense was highly touted coming into the season, but has been disappointing the last two games defending the rush.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of disappointing
Verb
  • That urgency has marked Holden’s prolific output—especially the thrilling first installment of his Supreme Magnetic series in 2025 and 2022’s Joe Frog—as the Harlem rapper uses his street-hustling past to paint an autobiographical portrait.
    — Matthew Ritchie, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The 30-second teaser sees Jackson hustling around town, making money and recruiting his team of crooks.
    — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of hustling
Noun
  • Surveys show that both Democrats and Republicans believe that sizable proportions of the other side favor wrongful imprisonment, tax fraud, embezzlement, adultery, animal abuse, and child pornography.
    — Paul Bloom, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026
  • None of these behaviors automatically indicates fraud or higher risk.
    — Artem Lalaiants, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of fraud

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Cite this Entry

“Cheating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cheating. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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