1
as in domineering
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1
as in regulating
to keep from exceeding a desirable degree or level (as of expression)
you must learn to control your temper
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in containing
to gain emotional or mental control of
he controlled himself only with the greatest difficulty in the face of his opponent's insulting remarks
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3
as in governing
to exercise authority or power over
circumstances often control the choices we make in life
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4
as in managing
to look after and make decisions about
during the period that she controlled the company it was highly profitable
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of controlling
Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 15 Dec. 2025
Yet another was a forum for people who, like me, had left a highly controlling religious denomination.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 May 2026
Not a result of being pushed back by Bayern, but as a means of controlling the game and preventing Bayern from doing anything constructive until the last minutes of extra time.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for controlling
Adjective
Rousseau is a notoriously controlling and meticulous leader, obsessed with optics and strict about the physical fitness of his members.
—Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 15 Dec. 2025
Yet another was a forum for people who, like me, had left a highly controlling religious denomination.
—James Parker, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Verb
Chinese vendors dominated the category, however, with Xiaomi controlling roughly half the market, followed by Huawei at about a quarter and Samsung at 10%.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 May 2026
Not a result of being pushed back by Bayern, but as a means of controlling the game and preventing Bayern from doing anything constructive until the last minutes of extra time.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for controlling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for controlling
Adjective
-
After being expelled from Brown University for sneaking a coed into his room, Turner came to Atlanta to work as an account executive for his domineering father’s billboard company, Turner Advertising.—
David Bauder,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
-
After being expelled from Brown University, Turner came to Atlanta to work for his domineering father’s billboard company, Turner Advertising.—
David Bauder,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
Adjective
-
You’re supposed to win when that happens … except that the two Dodgers starters, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell, were equally dominating.—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Makary, a surgical oncologist known for criticizing the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic, served as head of the agency responsible for regulating food, drugs and medical devices for more than a year.—
Annika Kim Constantino,Angelica Peebles,
CNBC,
12 May 2026
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All this while the federal government’s main tool for regulating medical software, the Food and Drug Administration’s device-approval process, is structurally unfit for regulating autonomous clinical AI.—
Alon Bergman,
STAT,
11 May 2026
Verb
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But the most common proxies, including tree rings, pollen and ice cores containing pockets of ancient air, have already been well studied.—
Hannah Richter,
Scientific American,
7 May 2026
-
Suitcases are discovered, containing plot devices.—
Robert Lloyd,
Boston Herald,
7 May 2026
Verb
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But that logic effectively reduces state legislatures to instruments of national party strategy, rather than independent governing bodies accountable first to their own voters.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
11 May 2026
-
The hypothetical doctor would be a governing body for the sport.—
Sam Cohn,
Baltimore Sun,
11 May 2026
Verb
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Your co-parent is managing treatment, uncertainty and the very real fear of how this will affect his relationship with his daughter.—
Jann Blackstone,
Boston Herald,
10 May 2026
-
Researchers around the world continue to face difficulties in managing millions of qubits reliably, leading many companies and laboratories to prioritize more achievable near-term applications using systems built with dozens or hundreds of qubits instead of massive large-scale architectures.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
10 May 2026
Adjective
-
Apes, on the other hand, have much flatter, more grasping feet, indicating that they’re better suited for climbing than for repetitive ground contact.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2026
-
My hope is tenuous, grasping; scar tissue from 108 years of futility is never fully salved.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Her former colleague, Paul Michel, says Newman is clear and cogent.—
Carrie Johnson,
NPR,
29 Mar. 2026
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Plenty had their say, but one of the clearest and most cogent responses came from Seedorf.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Controlling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/controlling. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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