Synonyms of drubbing

drubbing 1 of 2

noun

as in defeat

failure to win a contest

took a terrible drubbing in last night's basketball game

Synonyms & Similar Words

• defeat
• loss
• beating
• setback
• rout
• whipping
• shellacking
• trouncing
• overthrow
• trimming
• licking
• plastering
• failure
• collapse
• upset
• debacle
• fiasco
• flop
• lump
• shutout
• washout
• lurch
• whitewash
• nonsuccess
• fizzle

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• victory
• success
• triumph
• win
• achievement
• accomplishment
• blowout
• sweep
• landslide
• runaway
• romp
• walkover
• cakewalk
• walkaway

drubbing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of drub

1

as in pounding

to strike repeatedly

a crowd was drubbing the purse snatcher when the police arrived on the scene

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

2

as in whipping

to defeat by a large margin

we drubbed our traditional football rivals so badly that it was basically no contest

Synonyms & Similar Words

• whipping
• bombing
• overcoming
• thrashing
• shellacking
• upsetting
• burying
• beating
• trouncing
• throwing
• pasting
• routing
• whupping
• dusting
• flattening
• walloping
• mastering
• taking
• whopping
• trimming
• annihilating
• smothering
• blowing away
• waxing
• clobbering
• creaming
• overwhelming
• topping
• smoking
• whomping
• skinning
• scoring
• sweeping
• skunking
• succeeding
• surpassing
• conquering
• exceeding
• dispatching
• crushing
• eating alive
• snowing under
• running circles around
• destroying
• tromping
• beating the pants off
• wiping the floor with
• capping
• licking
• winning (against)
• prevailing (over)
• subduing
• vanquishing
• finishing
• slaughtering
• surmounting
• besting
• subjugating
• triumphing (over)
• overthrowing
• upending
• knocking over
• hurdling
• overpowering
• outdistancing
• eclipsing
• outdoing
• overmatching
• outstripping
• outshining
• knocking off
• transcending
• bettering
• edging (out)
• overtopping
• excelling
• overbearing
• flourishing
• worsting
• sinking
• outfighting
• acing (out)
• breaking
• pipping
• doing in
• nosing out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of drubbing

Noun

After Saturday’s 21-point drubbing in Game 6 by the Pistons, Atkinson re-inserted Max Strus into the starting lineup over Dean Wade. —Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 18 May 2026

The election drubbing cemented doubts among many Labor lawmakers about Starmer’s judgment, vision and leadership ability — a brutal indictment on a leader who returned the party to power in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition. —Danica Kirka, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026

The Mavericks’ most recent conquest of the team from Texas was a 7-4 drubbing of the Americans on Wednesday night in Game 3. —The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2026

And remember 2008, when Urban Meyer used all of his timeouts in the final minute of a 49-10 drubbing in Jacksonville? —Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 1 May 2026

Hours after the club wrapped up a 17-1 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles, news broke that the organization was cleaning house. —Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 26 Apr. 2026

The losing streak reached eight games Wednesday night, punctuated by an 8-2 drubbing at Dodger Stadium that got out of hand in the eighth inning. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 16 Apr. 2026

After the Jaden Ivey debacle and a series of drubbings, Michael Reinsdorf finally pulled the trigger yesterday and fired executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and his stealthy sidekick, general manager Marc Eversley. —Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026

In actuality, a soccer drubbing broke out. —Josh Gross, Daily News, 5 Apr. 2026

Verb

The mighty Mariners, who mashed five solo home runs at raucous T-Mobile Park, clinched their title by drubbing Major League Baseball’s doormat, aka the Colorado Rockies, 9-2. —Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 25 Sep. 2025