DRYING Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

drying

verb

present participle of dry

as in scorching

to make dry the wind quickly dried their clothes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fading

to lose liveliness, force, or freshness his creative talents were just drying on the vine in that small, provincial town

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 drying After washing, the appliance can move through steam sanitization and hot-air drying before entering a 72-hour antibacterial storage mode, which circulates filtered air to help keep cleaned parts dry and ready for use. — New Atlas, 9 Sep. 2026 The machine then completes a 55-minute drying process, reducing the need to move bottles and pump parts to a separate drying rack. — Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026 Extended drying times mean Riddell often has up to 30 artworks in progress. — Clare Coulson, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026 Apply toothpaste directly to the mark in question using your finger, then use your damp cloth to work the stain out of the wall, drying things off when it’s completely lifted out. — Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2026 Zellige tiles are made using a centuries-old process that involves hand-shaping Moroccan clay into tiles, sun drying and firing them, and then hand glazing each individual shape. — Alexandra Kelly, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026 But a lot has changed since the days of heavy, cakey, and overly drying foundations. — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 4 Sep. 2026 Taking medical histories, running tests, checking vitals, administering medications, and drying tears. — Dateline Nbc, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2026 Uniqlo offers Airism, a collection of light, smooth innerwear, T-shirts and casualwear designed to be cool-to-the-touch, moisture-wicking and fast-drying. — David Moin, Footwear News, 2 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for drying

Verb

Only one other spacecraft, NASA’s Messenger, has explored the puzzling, scorching planet that is just a little bigger than our moon.

— Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Prolonged periods of drought are scorching French pastures, leeching them of their usual lush green vitality and leaving behind parched, lifeless yellow fields.

— Vivian Song, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of scorching

Verb

Jacobs was playing hurt, Watson and Reed missed extended stretches with injuries, Van Ness was injured, Rashan Gary was fading and Nixon wasn’t the same player as in the season’s first half.

— Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Evolving threats While some rules travelers have lived with for decades might be fading, the aviation sector is still dealing with changing threats.

— Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of fading

Verb

Many of them, like Tubbs, were refugee Midwesterners, sick of parching droughts and devouring plagues of locusts, the insects descending in buzzing clouds thick enough to blacken the noonday sun.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Alegria also sees wild rice production growing using the traditional Indigenous methods of drying, parching, dancing and winnowing at rice camps in northern Wisconsin.

— Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 4 Dec. 2025

Definition of parching

Verb

In addition to air-frying, the Joule also has toasting, baking, broiling, roasting, proofing, reheating, slow cooking, warming and dehydrating functions, as well as settings for bagels, pizza and cookies.

— BestReviews, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
Guidance from Michigan State University recommends pretreating fruit by soaking it in a mixture of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and cold water, and steam blanching vegetables before dehydrating them.

— Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of dehydrating

Verb

In the fall different flowers, the last of the season, will be finally wilting.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026
Sinner, who needed the title to complete a career Grand Slam of his own, lost to Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerúndolo from the verge of victory, wilting in the heat of Paris and with no little help from an illness.

— James Hansen, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of wilting

Verb

What is clear is that Keith and Camilla’s search for answers is time-consuming, mentally draining and deeply frustrating, compounded by their grief and not helped by what feels like a lack of accountability.

— Stuart James, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Condensation water was draining slowly from the walk-in cooler at the floor drain.

— Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of draining

Verb

In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.

— Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Suddenly, pest populations are large enough to make a meaningful impact, and one too many afternoons of 100+ degree weather have begun desiccating leaves.

— Anthony Reardon, Kansas City Star, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of desiccating

Browse Nearby Words

dry-cleans

drying

drying up

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Style

“Drying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/drying. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of drying

verb

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