Synonyms of cracking

cracking 1 of 3

adjective

ˈkra-kiŋ 

as in excellent

of the very best kind

a writer renowned for her cracking tales of mystery and suspense

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excellent
• great
• terrific
• superb
• wonderful
• lovely
• awesome
• fantastic
• stellar
• fabulous
• beautiful
• prime
• fine
• hot
• marvelous
• quality
• cool
• classic
• famous
• top
• topping
• swell
• slick
• neat
• sensational
• brave
• heavenly
• good
• splendid
• bumper
• divine
• sterling
• superior
• immense
• prize
• crackerjack
• keen
• par excellence
• banner
• choice
• first-rate
• grand
• first-class
• fab
• dynamite
• unsurpassed
• superlative
• exceptional
• top-notch
• down
• dope
• corking
• groovy
• gone
• high-class
• peachy
• boss
• out of this world
• top-shelf
• number one
• blue-ribbon
• tip-top
• decent
• frontline
• radical
• too much
• mean
• bang-up
• bully
• nifty
• dandy
• noble
• capital
• topflight
• out-of-sight
• blue-chip
• wizard
• first-string
• better
• gangbusters
• brag
• supernal
• A1
• primo
• prizewinning
• satisfactory
• hype
• fantabulous
• peachy keen
• righteous
• adequate
• special
• bonny
• acceptable
• A-OK
• boffo
• top-of-the-line
• phat
• numero uno
• five-star
• gilt-edged
• all right
• tolerable
• jim-dandy
• classical
• traditional
• passable
• four-star
• fancy
• OK
• premium
• high-grade
• select
• high-test
• standard
• superfine

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• poor
• terrible
• rotten
• awful
• pathetic
• lousy
• atrocious
• wretched
• vile
• bad
• inferior
• unsatisfactory
• substandard
• low-grade
• execrable
• mediocre
• middling
• second-class
• second-rate

cracking

2 of 3

adverb

as in extremely

to a great degree

tells a cracking good tale of a search for a lost city

Synonyms & Similar Words

• extremely
• very
• damn
• incredibly
• terribly
• damned
• too
• highly
• badly
• so
• really
• seriously
• severely
• jolly
• desperately
• super
• real
• full
• far
• especially
• that
• rattling
• greatly
• thumping
• whacking
• wildly
• heavily
• passing
• most
• bone
• roaring
• intensely
• much
• such
• mighty
• particularly
• fiercely
• good and
• exceptionally
• wicked
• extra
• specially
• awful
• way
• spanking
• absolutely
• sore
• corking
• dang
• fantastically
• immensely
• exceedingly
• awfully
• totally
• fabulously
• deadly
• hugely
• uncommonly
• thoroughly
• a lot
• completely
• monstrous
• remarkably
• achingly
• supremely
• vitally
• eminently
• frightfully
• almighty
• utterly
• enormously
• mortally
• sorely
• ever
• beastly
• roaringly
• stinking
• positively
• surpassingly
• archly
• as all get-out
• filthy
• blisteringly
• deeply
• majorly
• vastly
• right
• mightily
• significantly
• entirely
• colossally
• visibly
• noticeably
• unco
• considerably
• fully
• wholly
• downright
• flat-out
• substantially
• notably
• obviously
• radically
• purely
• profoundly
• extensively
• markedly
• palpably
• altogether
• discernibly
• appreciably
• plainly
• excessively
• monumentally
• plentifully
• obscenely
• astronomically
• astonishingly
• grandly
• abundantly
• amazingly
• monstrously
• staggeringly
• overmuch

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• little
• slightly
• somewhat
• nominally
• just
• negligibly
• barely
• hardly
• scarcely
• marginally
• minimally
• scantily
• meagerly

cracking

3 of 3

verb

present participle of crack

1

as in popping

to break suddenly with an explosive sound

the tree branch unexpectedly cracked under our weight

Synonyms & Similar Words

• popping
• snapping
• splitting
• crackling
• exploding
• shattering
• bursting
• hissing
• clicking
• sputtering
• rending
• clattering
• sizzling
• riving
• clacking

2

as in choking

to yield to mental or emotional stress

after hours of tough questioning the suspect finally cracked and blurted out a confession

Synonyms & Similar Words

• choking
• losing it
• melting down
• falling apart
• going to pieces
• flipping (out)
• freaking (out)
• wigging (out)
• breaking down
• breaking up
• going off the deep end
• blowing one's cool

3

as in deciphering

to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language

the United States military used the Navajo language as a code during World War II, and the enemy never cracked it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deciphering
• breaking
• decoding
• decrypting
• solving
• translating
• rendering
• unraveling
• working
• figuring out
• unscrambling
• working out
• descrambling
• doping (out)
• puzzling (out)
• unriddling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• coding
• encoding
• encrypting
• ciphering
• mixing (up)
• enciphering
• garbling
• jumbling (up)

4

as in knocking

to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner

cracked the bow of the ship with a champagne bottle

Synonyms & Similar Words

• knocking
• smacking
• slapping
• hitting
• banging
• slamming
• punching
• pounding
• clapping
• whacking
• striking
• clipping
• swiping
• kicking
• batting
• thumping
• hammering
• nailing
• tapping
• bashing
• poking
• licking
• pushing
• thwacking
• rapping
• shoving
• boxing
• bobbing
• busting
• flicking
• jabbing
• chopping
• swatting
• slugging
• clouting
• zapping
• tagging
• clobbering
• bopping
• socking
• smiting
• pasting
• clocking
• bludgeoning
• bumping
• bonking
• belting
• stabbing
• biffing
• slogging
• walloping
• stroking
• beating
• whaling
• battering
• scuffing
• pummeling
• stamping
• mangling
• mauling
• peppering
• hanging one on
• cuffing
• slashing
• pelting
• whipping
• buffeting
• lashing
• jostling
• dumping
• roughing
• butting
• bunging
• prodding
• lambasting
• drubbing
• decking
• lacing
• creaming
• sapping
• switching
• bunting
• kneeing
• felling
• pommeling
• flogging
• thrashing
• flailing
• spearing
• clubbing
• knocking down
• flooring
• bowling (down or over)
• leveling
• cudgeling
• caning
• sledgehammering
• sledging
• braining
• sucker punching
• conking
• skulling
• rabbit-punching
• beaning

5

as in solving

to find an answer for through reasoning

I've been mulling this riddle, but I just can't crack it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• solving
• unraveling
• answering
• resolving
• working
• deciphering
• breaking
• figuring out
• working out
• doping (out)
• puzzling (out)
• riddling (out)
• concluding
• deciding
• unriddling
• gathering
• reasoning
• deducing
• judging
• inferring
• guessing
• straightening (out)
• speculating
• untangling
• clearing (up)
• ironing out
• decoding
• assuming
• divining
• untying
• presuming
• conjecturing
• unscrambling

6

as in bothering

to cause to go insane or as if insane

cracked by years in solitary confinement, the prisoner could only maunder incoherently

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bothering
• crazing
• disturbing
• distracting
• unbalancing
• unhinging
• upsetting
• maddening
• unsettling
• annoying
• deranging
• confusing
• frenzying
• irritating
• locoing
• unstringing
• disquieting
• perturbing
• agitating
• discomposing
• vexing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• settling
• relaxing
• soothing
• calming
• quieting
• tranquilizing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of cracking

Adjective

The study published in the journal Construction and Building Materials also revealed that the triangular and wavy forms significantly enhanced the beam's ability to handle post-cracking stress. — New Atlas, 10 Apr. 2026

Another uninspired performance coupled with a a heavy defeat may well spell the end for the Basque manager at the Emirates, so this fixture should have plenty of undertones and be a cracking game of football. — SI.com, 28 Oct. 2019

His fortunes finally turned back Wednesday, when van Garderen laid down a cracking time trial at the Tour of California. — sacbee, 16 May 2018

Verb

But perhaps just as rewarding, and maybe even inspiring, is cracking open a book in a reader-friendly public space. — Adele Chapin, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2026

Ross and Katsis, in particular, are part of a group of young wide receivers who may have trouble cracking the 53-man roster, but who could well form a chunk of Denver’s practice squad. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 20 Aug. 2026

The two quickly became friends, spending the next two years cracking jokes at each other’s expense. — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Coker is like cracking that item box and seeing the blue shell pop up. — Jess Bryant, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Preservationists have voiced concerns that vibrations created by the cars could damage artworks by cracking canvases or loosening mounts. — Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026

At the landing zone, with bullets whipping and cracking around them, Capers—barely clinging to consciousness—refused to board the helicopter until every last man, and his dog’s body, was aboard. — Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026

The process of hydraulic fracturing ekes out oil from older wells, and involves cracking the bedrock several thousand feet below the seafloor by injecting chemical fluids with intense pressure. — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026

Things like trumpets cracking, lights failing, and the BBC presenter’s original record of the broadcast breaking – all remind us of the fragility of relics, said Finn. — Sheena McKenzie, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026

Phrases Containing cracking

• get cracking