as in selecting
to decide to accept (someone or something) from a group of possibilities
cherry-picked the spacious corner office for his corporate fief
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Recent Examples of cherry-picking
Families spent Mother's Day filling buckets and making memories at Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop, where crowds gathered Sunday for cherry-picking season in the heart of California's top cherry-producing county.
—
Charlie Lapastora, CBS News, 11 May 2026
Cha chaan tengs grew in popularity, cherry-picking elements from all three restaurants to create a new type of cuisine.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
But most of this research is co-authored by Sikiric, who holds several patents related to BPC-157, and some experts have accused him of cherry-picking evidence.
—Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The Justice Department has pushed back on the defense suggestion that Bondi continues to profit from Ballard’s ongoing representation of UnitedHealth Group and accused Mangione’s lawyers of creating such a misimpression by cherry-picking language from her public financial disclosure report.
—Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
Vartkessian renders them neither clinically nor sensationally—a fine line to walk—and cherry-picking details for this review feels grossly reductive, like a thumbnail sketch of a scene of desolation.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Following Democrats’ release, Republicans accused Democrats of cherry-picking the emails, later releasing a tranche of 20,000 pages of documents both sides received from the Epstein estate last week.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 13 Nov. 2025
More than 85 scientists denounced the report, accusing officials of cherry-picking facts and figures to allow for the administration’s fossil fuel ambitions.
—Solcyré Burga, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Sisters Mackinley and Taylor Hill are taking inspiration from their own lives and cherry-picking a collection of juicy new jewelry for their debut line, Stone Fruit.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2025
Charlie Lapastora, CBS News, 11 May 2026
Cha chaan tengs grew in popularity, cherry-picking elements from all three restaurants to create a new type of cuisine.
—Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
But most of this research is co-authored by Sikiric, who holds several patents related to BPC-157, and some experts have accused him of cherry-picking evidence.
—Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
The Justice Department has pushed back on the defense suggestion that Bondi continues to profit from Ballard’s ongoing representation of UnitedHealth Group and accused Mangione’s lawyers of creating such a misimpression by cherry-picking language from her public financial disclosure report.
—Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
Vartkessian renders them neither clinically nor sensationally—a fine line to walk—and cherry-picking details for this review feels grossly reductive, like a thumbnail sketch of a scene of desolation.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Following Democrats’ release, Republicans accused Democrats of cherry-picking the emails, later releasing a tranche of 20,000 pages of documents both sides received from the Epstein estate last week.
—Emily Brooks, The Hill, 13 Nov. 2025
More than 85 scientists denounced the report, accusing officials of cherry-picking facts and figures to allow for the administration’s fossil fuel ambitions.
—Solcyré Burga, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Sisters Mackinley and Taylor Hill are taking inspiration from their own lives and cherry-picking a collection of juicy new jewelry for their debut line, Stone Fruit.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cherry-picking
Verb
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Tossing a Tide pod inside your washing machine, selecting your preferred wash cycle, and pressing start sounds simple enough.—
Katelyn Chef,
Southern Living,
18 June 2026
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Leaders often devote significant attention to selecting the right platforms, tools, and vendors while overlooking the learning systems necessary to support adoption, experimentation, knowledge sharing, and workforce capability development.—
Michael Edmondson,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Verb
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McCarthy doesn’t paint Alex and Ethan as perfect allies or perfect victims, instead choosing to explore the shortcomings in their friendship through mostly gender-neutral growing pains.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
19 June 2026
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Langley has recruited women to open for every date, choosing Gabriella Rose, Kaitlin Butts, Avery Anna, Laci Kaye Booth, and Madeline Edwards for the tour, which kicked off in May and concludes this August in, appropriately, Texas.—
Marissa R. Moss,
Rolling Stone,
19 June 2026
Verb
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Its name comes from the fact that the fruit usually ripens and is ready for picking around this time of year.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
22 June 2026
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Callihan had trouble picking it up, allowing McCarthy to race around the bases and beat the relay throw home.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cherry-picking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cherry-picking. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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