Synonyms of do

do 1 of 4

verb (1)

1

as in to suffice

to be fitting or proper

that outfit just won't do for the opera

Synonyms & Similar Words

• suffice
• serve
• go
• fit
• suit
• work
• fit the bill
• fill the bill
• beseem
• satisfy
• befit
• function

2

as in to serve

to be enough

even half of that amount of sugar will do

Synonyms & Similar Words

• suffice
• serve
• satisfy
• answer
• suit
• content
• quench
• satiate
• assuage
• sate

3

as in to accomplish

to carry through (as a process) to completion

do as much as you can and leave the rest

Synonyms & Similar Words

• accomplish
• perform
• achieve
• fulfill
• fulfil
• execute
• make
• implement
• commit
• negotiate
• prosecute
• carry out
• realize
• carry off
• put through
• complete
• perpetrate
• finish
• pull off
• go through
• compass
• bring off
• practise
• effect
• practice
• follow through (with)
• bring about
• effectuate
• attain
• engage (in)
• repeat
• work (at)
• ace
• end
• nail
• reenact
• actualize
• wind up
• reduplicate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fail
• slight
• skimp
• slur

4

as in to decorate

to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming

did the living room in French provincial style

Synonyms & Similar Words

• decorate
• adorn
• drape
• enrich
• beautify
• embellish
• paint
• deck
• pretty (up)
• grace
• trim
• garnish
• dress
• ornament
• emboss
• array
• bedeck
• festoon
• fancy up
• accessorize
• fancify
• blazon
• doll up
• brighten
• emblaze
• trick (out)
• trap
• gussy up
• freshen
• glitz (up)
• embroider
• smarten
• bedizen
• caparison
• chase
• figure
• hang
• do up
• spruce (up)
• boss
• redo
• dress up
• braid
• ribbon
• gild
• fillet
• fringe
• redecorate
• gem
• diamond
• flounce
• feather
• garland
• appliqué
• frill
• pearl
• swag
• wreathe
• impearl
• jewel
• lace
• filigree
• furbelow

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• spoil
• simplify
• disfigure
• scar
• reveal
• deface
• streamline
• mar
• display
• expose
• uncover
• dismantle
• strip
• bare
• divest
• blemish
• denude
• uglify

5

as in to cope

to meet one's day-to-day needs

I'm doing just fine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cope
• manage
• survive
• afford
• get by
• make ends meet
• get along
• get on
• make do
• fare
• make out
• shift
• make shift
• fend for oneself
• contrive
• carry on
• eke out
• last
• scrounge
• scrape (by or through)
• scrape (out)
• squeeze
• wring
• wrest
• swing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fail
• fall short
• collapse
• decline
• flounder
• wane
• fizzle
• slump
• give up
• peter (out)

6

as in to cause

to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind)

this neighborhood cleanup effort might just do some good

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cause
• create
• bring
• generate
• prompt
• work
• produce
• make
• induce
• spawn
• invoke
• yield
• effect
• bring about
• effectuate
• draw on
• result (in)
• encourage
• found
• translate (into)
• give rise to
• catalyze
• promote
• introduce
• breed
• beget
• decide
• bring forth
• begin
• bring on
• engender
• occasion
• contribute (to)
• determine
• initiate
• establish
• start
• develop
• inaugurate
• pioneer
• launch
• cultivate
• institute
• enact
• set up
• forward
• foster
• innovate
• render
• further
• set
• conduce (to)
• advance
• turn out
• nurture
• nourish
• father

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restrict
• limit
• impede
• suppress
• check
• subdue
• quash
• stifle
• control
• put down
• repress
• quell
• restrain
• smother
• dampen
• can
• crush
• inhibit
• curb
• kill
• arrest
• retard
• rein (in)
• destroy
• still
• squelch
• crack down (on)
• squash
• abolish
• clamp down (on)
• liquidate
• extinguish
• demolish
• quench
• snuff (out)

7

as in to imitate

to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of

the laughing partygoers begged their host to do Marlon Brando again

Synonyms & Similar Words

• imitate
• parody
• mock
• mimic
• send up
• spoof
• emulate
• perform
• caricature
• pretend
• simulate
• reproduce
• play
• burlesque
• travesty
• ridicule
• replicate
• satirize
• deride
• enhance
• elaborate
• exaggerate
• jibe
• feign
• gibe
• duplicate
• dissemble
• lampoon
• act
• personate
• embellish
• parrot
• play up
• overstate
• ape
• monkey
• pad
• embroider
• expand
• flesh (out)
• stretch
• enlarge (on or upon)
• amplify
• sham
• put on
• overdraw
• counterfeit
• mime
• magnify
• impersonate
• fake
• pantomime
• pasquinade
• copycat

8

as in to proceed

to move forward along a course

how are you doing with the house restoration?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• proceed
• come
• go
• progress
• march
• forge
• advance
• get along
• come along
• get on
• fare
• go off
• go along
• pace
• speed
• gain ground
• push
• travel
• approach
• accelerate
• drive
• repair
• pass
• run
• near
• journey
• propel
• actuate
• impel
• take out
• fast-forward
• wend

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stop
• stand
• remain
• stay
• check
• hinder
• impede
• block
• hold back
• detain
• obstruct
• halt
• stem
• arrest
• slow (down or up)
• suppress
• interrupt
• delay
• retard
• cease
• repress
• inhibit
• wait
• balk
• stall
• hamper
• pause
• nip
• stunt
• cramp
• let up
• regress

9

as in to perform

to present a portrayal or performance of

she's done Eliza Doolittle on the stage so many times that she can probably play the flower girl in her sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

• perform
• play
• portray
• interpret
• depict
• represent
• impersonate
• act
• enact
• dramatize
• act out
• render
• pose (as)
• mimic
• imitate
• take on
• underplay
• masquerade
• ham
• playact
• star (in)
• mime
• role-play
• ape
• overact
• overplay
• pantomime
• coact
• clown
• costar

10

as in to cheat

to rob by the use of trickery or threats

did them out of their savings with surprising ease

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cheat
• squeeze
• pluck
• stick
• hustle
• sting
• beat
• screw
• deceive
• trick
• bleed
• shortchange
• victimize
• defraud
• exploit
• shake down
• diddle
• fiddle
• short
• rip off
• sucker
• chouse
• betray
• skin
• con
• stiff
• swindle
• ream
• fool
• bilk
• chisel
• cozen
• fleece
• mulct
• take for a ride
• nobble
• rook
• take to the cleaners
• hose
• flimflam
• do in
• gaff
• euchre
• extort
• thimblerig
• sell a bill of goods to
• skunk
• clip
• soak
• wrench
• gouge
• overcharge
• wring
• nick
• wrest
• milk
• dupe
• rope (in)
• bitch
• gull
• double-cross
• bamboozle
• fast-talk

11

as in to hide

to strike repeatedly

no one is sure who did them in that alley

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hide
• lick
• beat
• pound
• whip
• lash
• knock
• hit
• attack
• slap
• spank
• pelt
• punch
• smash
• batter
• chop
• assault
• thump
• work over
• bat
• slam
• lambast
• punch out
• switch
• pummel
• bash
• flog
• maul
• slate
• box
• lambaste
• club
• belabor
• tan
• curry
• bludgeon
• raid
• rough (up)
• paddle
• belt
• hammer
• smack
• baste
• whack
• beat up on
• thrash
• lather
• rush
• whop
• swipe
• buffet
• slog
• whup
• thresh
• wallop
• wound
• lace
• storm
• tromp
• descend (on or upon)
• whale
• drub
• mess (up)
• fib
• bung up
• crack
• whap
• birch
• lay on
• clout
• assail
• clobber
• jump (on)
• pommel
• beset
• swat
• pounce (on or upon)
• paste
• strap
• cane
• sock
• wham
• leather
• bust
• cuff
• lam
• flagellate
• whomp
• cudgel
• thwack
• maim
• lacerate
• mutilate
• scourge
• fustigate
• mangle
• horsewhip
• gore
• blackjack
• rawhide
• pistol-whip
• cowhide

12

as in to happen

to take place

nothing's ever doing in this boring little town

Synonyms & Similar Words

• happen
• come
• be
• occur
• cook
• come down
• come about
• pass
• come to pass
• befall
• chance
• come off
• transpire
• go down
• develop
• go on
• proceed
• hap
• betide
• rise
• intervene
• arise
• materialize
• come up
• shape (up)
• follow
• result
• spring (up)
• fall out
• break
• crop (up)
• turn out
• go off

do

2 of 4

noun (1)

1

as in event

a social gathering

it's supposed to be some sort of fancy do

Synonyms & Similar Words

• event
• bash
• party
• function
• reception
• celebration
• dance
• blast
• shindig
• fete
• binge
• blowout
• benefit
• affair
• fête
• gala
• ball
• occasion
• formal
• supper
• get-together
• bake
• prom
• tea party
• fund-raiser
• meet and greet
• keg party
• house party
• symposium
• masquerade
• shower
• cocktail party
• tea
• hen party
• social
• orgy
• clambake
• stag
• salon
• mixer
• saturnalia
• soirée
• soiree
• housewarming
• icebreaker
• bacchanalia
• klatch
• bacchanal
• kegger
• klatsch
• kaffeeklatsch

2

as in order

a statement of what to do that must be obeyed by those concerned

issued a long list of dos and don'ts before we even started the project

Synonyms & Similar Words

• order
• instruction
• edict
• direction
• directive
• commandment
• injunction
• imperative
• command
• charge
• dictate
• requirement
• word
• decree
• demand
• behest
• mandate
• rule
• law
• prescription
• regulation
• countermand
• counterorder
• statute
• precept
• ordinance
• prescript

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appeal
• petition
• plea
• proposal
• recommendation
• suggestion
• urging
• entreaty

3

as in cut

a style or arrangement of hair

you can tell that the picture was taken in the 1980s from my permed do

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cut
• haircut
• hairdo
• hairstyle
• ponytail
• coiffure
• permanent
• Mohawk
• crew cut
• crop
• buzz cut
• braid
• fade
• French twist
• conk
• trim
• big hair
• perm
• shag
• bob
• bun
• queue
• pug
• beehive
• chignon
• plait
• shingle
• pageboy
• pigtail
• roach
• upsweep
• updo
• pompadour
• comb-over
• ducktail

4

as in need

archaic something one must do because of prior agreement

in this hour of national crisis everyone must do their do

Synonyms & Similar Words

• need
• obligation
• responsibility
• duty
• promise
• vow
• commitment
• burden
• office
• pledge
• imperative
• requirement
• constraint
• must
• charge
• pact
• devoir
• incumbency
• setup
• payment
• trust
• contract
• oath
• arrangement
• word
• compulsion
• tribute
• debt
• compact
• restraint
• covenant
• force
• reservation
• coercion
• prearrangement
• troth
• appointment
• engagement
• duress
• onus

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stay
• relief
• grace
• release
• discharge
• exemption
• ease
• waiver
• choice
• option
• postponement
• alternative
• selection
• preference
• loophole
• pick

5

as in hurry

chiefly dialect a state of noisy, confused activity

in that small town a great deal of do could come from very little indeed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hurry
• stir
• commotion
• fuss
• disturbance
• bother
• fun
• turmoil
• racket
• storm
• noise
• to-do
• row
• clatter
• zoo
• clutter
• hurricane
• ado
• coil
• hoopla
• bustle
• blather
• pother
• splore
• ruckus
• hubbub
• roar
• whirl
• hurry-skurry
• hullabaloo
• rumpus
• stew
• ballyhoo
• pandemonium
• bluster
• shindy
• moil
• furore
• alarums and excursions
• tumult
• corroboree
• hurry-scurry
• kerfuffle
• uproar
• hoo-hah
• squall
• bobbery
• ruction
• furor
• flurry
• foofaraw
• hoo-ha
• helter-skelter
• hurly-burly
• upheaval
• howl
• hurly
• welter
• williwaw
• clamor
• hue and cry
• outcry
• disorder
• hubble-bubble
• din
• cacophony
• unrest
• flutter
• eruption
• brawl
• outbreak
• fret
• fray
• outburst
• scuffle
• dither
• hassle
• melee
• fever
• lather
• mêlée
• fracas
• tizzy
• flare-up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rest
• peace
• calm
• quiet
• order
• hush
• stillness
• tranquillity
• tranquility
• quietude
• orderliness

doing

3 of 4

noun (2)

as in thing

something done by someone

is that mess in the kitchen your doing?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• thing
• action
• act
• feat
• deed
• achievement
• accomplishment
• experience
• exploit
• work
• undertaking
• activity
• performance
• initiative
• adventure
• attainment
• proceeding
• dealing
• procedure
• trick
• enterprise
• move
• operation
• tactic
• stunt
• handiwork
• maneuver
• step
• measure
• emprise
• coaction

doing

4 of 4

verb (2)

present participle of do

1

as in sufficing

to be fitting or proper

that outfit just won't do for the opera

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sufficing
• serving
• going
• fitting
• befitting
• working
• suiting
• filling the bill
• fitting the bill
• beseeming
• satisfying
• functioning

2

as in serving

to be enough

even half of that amount of sugar will do

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sufficing
• serving
• answering
• satisfying
• contenting
• suiting
• quenching
• assuaging
• satiating
• sating

3

as in performing

to carry through (as a process) to completion

do as much as you can and leave the rest

Synonyms & Similar Words

• performing
• accomplishing
• fulfilling
• executing
• achieving
• making
• implementing
• committing
• prosecuting
• negotiating
• carrying out
• completing
• realizing
• perpetrating
• finishing
• going through
• practicing
• pulling off
• carrying off
• effecting
• putting through
• bringing off
• following through (with)
• practising
• attaining
• bringing about
• compassing
• effectuating
• repeating
• working (at)
• nailing
• engaging (in)
• ending
• acing
• reenacting
• actualizing
• winding up
• reduplicating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• failing
• slighting
• slurring
• skimping

4

as in decorating

to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming

did the living room in French provincial style

Synonyms & Similar Words

• decorating
• adorning
• draping
• ornamenting
• enriching
• trimming
• beautifying
• painting
• embellishing
• garnishing
• dressing
• decking
• gracing
• embossing
• arraying
• festooning
• gussying up
• doing up
• bedecking
• blazoning
• fancifying
• dolling up
• prettying (up)
• bedizening
• emblazing
• caparisoning
• trapping
• fancying up
• embroidering
• accessorizing
• brightening
• glitzing (up)
• figuring
• chasing
• tricking (out)
• freshening
• braiding
• smartening
• filleting
• bossing
• swagging
• redoing
• hanging
• sprucing (up)
• redecorating
• garlanding
• appliquéing
• frilling
• dressing up
• ribboning
• jewelling
• flouncing
• feathering
• filigreeing
• jeweling
• fringing
• gilding
• wreathing
• furbelowing
• diamonding
• gemming
• impearling
• pearling
• lacing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• spoiling
• simplifying
• defacing
• displaying
• marring
• streamlining
• disfiguring
• stripping
• exposing
• revealing
• scarring
• uncovering
• dismantling
• baring
• divesting
• denuding
• blemishing
• uglifying

5

as in coping

to meet one's day-to-day needs

I'm doing just fine

Synonyms & Similar Words

• coping
• managing
• surviving
• affording
• faring
• shifting
• making ends meet
• getting along
• getting by
• getting on
• making do
• making out
• making shift
• fending for oneself
• scrounging
• contriving
• carrying on
• scraping (by or through)
• lasting
• eking out
• scraping (out)
• squeezing
• wringing
• swinging
• wresting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• failing
• collapsing
• floundering
• falling short
• declining
• waning
• slumping
• fizzling
• giving up
• petering (out)

6

as in creating

to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind)

this neighborhood cleanup effort might just do some good

Synonyms & Similar Words

• creating
• causing
• bringing
• generating
• working
• producing
• prompting
• spawning
• making
• effecting
• inducing
• yielding
• invoking
• bringing about
• resulting (in)
• promoting
• breeding
• translating (into)
• introducing
• giving rise to
• catalyzing
• drawing on
• encouraging
• effectuating
• bringing on
• bringing forth
• begetting
• occasioning
• engendering
• initiating
• contributing (to)
• launching
• developing
• starting
• beginning
• deciding
• establishing
• determining
• inaugurating
• instituting
• pioneering
• founding
• enacting
• cultivating
• fostering
• furthering
• rendering
• innovating
• advancing
• conducing (to)
• forwarding
• setting
• nurturing
• setting up
• fathering
• turning out
• nourishing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• limiting
• restricting
• impeding
• checking
• controlling
• suppressing
• crushing
• repressing
• stifling
• subduing
• restraining
• inhibiting
• smothering
• arresting
• quashing
• curbing
• putting down
• killing
• quelling
• dampening
• retarding
• destroying
• squashing
• squelching
• abolishing
• cracking down (on)
• canning
• liquidating
• extinguishing
• demolishing
• clamping down (on)
• quenching
• reining (in)
• stilling
• snuffing (out)

7

as in imitating

to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of

the laughing partygoers begged their host to do Marlon Brando again

Synonyms & Similar Words

• imitating
• parodying
• mocking
• mimicking
• caricaturing
• spoofing
• performing
• sending up
• simulating
• emulating
• burlesquing
• playing
• travestying
• reproducing
• pretending
• ridiculing
• satirizing
• replicating
• deriding
• monkeying
• lampooning
• duplicating
• aping
• parroting
• feigning
• elaborating
• gibing
• enhancing
• shamming
• jibing
• acting
• exaggerating
• stretching
• embroidering
• miming
• personating
• embellishing
• expanding
• faking
• dissembling
• pantomiming
• playing up
• padding
• overstating
• enlarging (on or upon)
• counterfeiting
• pasquinading
• amplifying
• impersonating
• overdrawing
• putting on
• copycatting
• fleshing (out)
• magnifying

8

as in progressing

to move forward along a course

how are you doing with the house restoration?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• progressing
• proceeding
• going
• coming
• marching
• forging
• advancing
• pacing
• faring
• getting along
• coming along
• gaining ground
• going along
• getting on
• going off
• speeding
• travelling
• traveling
• pushing
• approaching
• accelerating
• driving
• repairing
• running
• nearing
• journeying
• passing
• propelling
• wending
• fast-forwarding
• actuating
• taking out
• impelling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• standing
• remaining
• stopping
• staying
• checking
• blocking
• hindering
• impeding
• stemming
• obstructing
• arresting
• halting
• interrupting
• holding back
• delaying
• suppressing
• detaining
• slowing (down or up)
• retarding
• stalling
• repressing
• inhibiting
• pausing
• hampering
• waiting
• balking
• ceasing
• nipping
• stunting
• cramping
• regressing
• letting up

9

as in playing

to present a portrayal or performance of

she's done Eliza Doolittle on the stage so many times that she can probably play the flower girl in her sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

• performing
• playing
• portraying
• interpreting
• depicting
• representing
• impersonating
• acting
• enacting
• dramatizing
• rendering
• acting out
• pantomiming
• mimicking
• role-playing
• playacting
• imitating
• miming
• masquerading
• aping
• posing (as)
• underplaying
• taking on
• overacting
• overplaying
• hamming
• clowning
• roleplaying
• starring (in)
• coacting
• costarring
• co-acting
• co-starring

10

as in squeezing

to rob by the use of trickery or threats

did them out of their savings with surprising ease

Synonyms & Similar Words

• squeezing
• cheating
• plucking
• sticking
• hustling
• beating
• screwing
• stinging
• deceiving
• bleeding
• exploiting
• tricking
• conning
• defrauding
• victimizing
• shortchanging
• fiddling
• fleecing
• shorting
• diddling
• reaming
• chiselling
• fooling
• suckering
• swindling
• chiseling
• skinning
• stiffing
• doing in
• bilking
• hosing
• rooking
• shaking down
• gaffing
• mulcting
• betraying
• cozening
• ripping off
• thimblerigging
• euchring
• clipping
• chousing
• taking for a ride
• flimflamming
• nobbling
• extorting
• wrenching
• taking to the cleaners
• milking
• soaking
• selling a bill of goods to
• overcharging
• skunking
• nicking
• gouging
• wresting
• wringing
• duping
• gulling
• bitching
• double-crossing
• roping (in)
• bamboozling
• fast-talking

11

as in hiding

to strike repeatedly

no one is sure who did them in that alley

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hiding
• licking
• pounding
• whipping
• lashing
• beating
• attacking
• hitting
• knocking
• slapping
• battering
• smashing
• punching
• pelting
• slamming
• chopping
• batting
• assaulting
• switching
• spanking
• bashing
• thumping
• raiding
• hammering
• slating
• paddling
• flogging
• pummeling
• working over
• mauling
• currying
• slogging
• lambasting
• boxing
• tanning
• whacking
• clubbing
• storming
• pummelling
• smacking
• lathering
• fibbing
• punching out
• basting
• thrashing
• belting
• swiping
• pommelling
• tromping
• bludgeoning
• rushing
• buffeting
• belaboring
• whaling
• threshing
• whopping
• whapping
• cracking
• pommeling
• walloping
• beating up on
• messing (up)
• lacing
• wounding
• roughing (up)
• drubbing
• descending (on or upon)
• whupping
• pasting
• bunging up
• strapping
• birching
• socking
• assailing
• clobbering
• jumping (on)
• cuffing
• swatting
• laying on
• busting
• cudgelling
• clouting
• thwacking
• flagellating
• pouncing (on or upon)
• cudgeling
• besetting
• lamming
• caning
• mutilating
• scourging
• whamming
• whomping
• mangling
• maiming
• fustigating
• lacerating
• blackjacking
• rawhiding
• leathering
• goring
• cowhiding
• pistol-whipping
• horsewhipping

12

as in happening

to take place

nothing's ever doing in this boring little town

Synonyms & Similar Words

• happening
• being
• coming
• occurring
• cooking
• coming down
• transpiring
• passing
• going on
• coming off
• going down
• coming about
• happing
• chancing
• developing
• betiding
• coming to pass
• befalling
• proceeding
• rising
• intervening
• materializing
• shaping (up)
• following
• coming up
• resulting
• arising
• breaking
• springing (up)
• cropping (up)
• falling out
• turning out
• going off

Phrases Containing do

• do a number on
• do away with
• do by
• do down
• do for
• do in
• do it
• do the trick
• do up
• have to do with
• make do