cocooning

verb

Definition of cocooningnext
present participle of cocoon
as in wrapping
to surround or cover closely cocooned in puffy down parkas, we braved the bitter cold as best we could

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 cocooning Start your child young as far as global adventures and sophistication are concerned by cocooning them in this indulgent, miniature version of the above The Ritz-Carlton robe. — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026 That said, the Inn itself is so cocooning that many guests end up spending far more time on the property than originally planned. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Aug. 2026 Drivers who failed to dig out while the snow from our late-January storm was still soft are now contending with thick walls of ice cocooning their vehicles. — Clio Chang, Curbed, 5 Feb. 2026 Josephson likes to turn down the volume on the outside world, cocooning her readers in the white noise of affirmation. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026 Fluid yet substantial, this favorite from Cos skims the body with soft folds that are both cocooning and refined. — Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 23 Dec. 2025 The first is with Tallulah, her best friend slash client who’s been slacking off on both fronts since cocooning into her new relationship with Tessa. — Caroline Framke, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025 The half-moon shape is especially conducive to cocooning you for hours on end. — Erika Owen, Architectural Digest, 30 Oct. 2025 That’s just shy of a record 444 set in 2022 when people were cocooning in homes during the pandemic. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cocooning
  1. wrapping
  2. enveloping
  3. shrouding
  4. enclosing
  5. encasing
Verb
  • Orley comes to You’ve Got Mail after wrapping post on his third feature, an Amazon comedy titled Close Personal Friends that stars Brie Larson, Jack Quaid, Lilly Collins and Henry Golding.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 10 Nov. 2026
  • Over 10 years and eight films, Radcliffe memorably brought the character to life on the big screen, before wrapping the franchise in 2011.
    — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of wrapping
Verb
  • Silvestrov’s melancholic strings soared around him, enveloping the duo in their sense of pining.
    — Lucy Gellman, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026
  • There was, instead, a stillness so enveloping that John Carpenter could have shot a lifetime of movies there.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of enveloping
Verb
  • Congressional leaders, wired to protect their own and afraid of upsetting their narrow margins, are famous for shrouding ethics investigations in secrecy and dragging them out for years.
    — Mary Ellen Klas, Twin Cities, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Advertisement Israel has bombed oil depots in Tehran, shrouding the city in toxic black smoke, and attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 1 Apr. 2026
Definition of shrouding
Verb
  • The attack is not so much a matter of precision as enclosing an area—hopefully a space that the fly is within when her jaws slap shut.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Each petal serves both structural and aesthetic purposes, enclosing a vast central hall that can accommodate up to 2,500 worshippers.
    — Kieron Marchese, Architectural Digest, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of enclosing
Verb
  • Little Miner’s version isn’t so much a riff as an homage, with a flour tortilla encasing queso sauce, tortilla chips, chipotle aioli, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, sour cream and a choice of proteins.
    — Warren Rojas, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The spigots serve as injection ports, where crews can pump grout behind the tunnel wall, with the goal of coating and encasing the entire tunnel lining under the Newtown Creek in a waterproof layer, filling any cracks along the way.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 19 July 2026
Definition of encasing

Browse Nearby Words

cocooned
cocooning
cocoons
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cocooning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cocooning. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of boilerplate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All