1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

exploited

verb

Definition of exploitednext
past tense of exploit
1
as in used
to take unfair advantage of the type of person who exploits a friend's good nature by constantly sponging off of him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in manipulated
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means a politician more than willing to exploit any national tragedy for political gain

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in utilized
to put into action or service it will be a shame if you don't exploit your artistic talent to the fullest

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 exploited One of the counterarguments raised by developers of apps that can be exploited once a device is compromised is that once that happens, all security bets are off. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026 In a sense, the LLM found and exploited a loophole in the framing of the question. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2026 The Commission stressed the importance of early and at-home voting to prevent large gatherings which could be exploited by Ukrainian attacks. — Chris Massaro , Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026 There is no evidence that any other hackers exploited the same vulnerabilities that Hacktron did. — Kevin Collier, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2026 Investigators allege the defendants exploited subsidy programs meant to help low-income families work or attend school. — Ken Sweet, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026 Sylvain's case began in October 2025, when BSO detectives received a report that an elderly man was being exploited at the B'nai B'rith apartments in Deerfield Beach. — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2026 But the Cowboys’ defense looked worse than ever in a 28-20 loss to the Giants, who converted 9-of-11 third downs and repeatedly exploited Dallas’ failures to make adjustments. — Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 15 Sep. 2026 That imbalance, if exploited with sufficient force, would produce concessions on trade flows, investment, and the rules governing global competition. — Jonas Nahm, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exploited
  1. used
  2. manipulated
  3. utilized
  4. abused
  5. applied
  6. leveraged
  7. employed
  8. harnessed
Verb
  • Aluminum targets tougher battery demands The coated aluminum can be used for battery enclosures and casings, where corrosion protection can help improve component durability.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The disclosure on Thursday, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, came as Anthropic published a new set of data that showed a rapid increase in how much the lab used AI to develop its new models.
    — Cristina Criddle, ArsTechnica, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of used
Verb
  • While companies can license those characters for interactive experiences — one hypothetical Thomson offered was a Waymo with the voice of Prime — those can’t be manipulated in the way many unauthorized clips of Hasbro characters have been.
    — Corbin Bolies, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • One potential reason floated to Semafor by market participants is that compute futures could be manipulated to show a sharp drop in the cost of older chips, which might destabilize AI stocks and debt markets.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of manipulated
Verb
  • In a very similar manner, the technology is now being utilized to create voices for everything from advertisements to audio chatbots, for these exact same reasons.
    — Will Jones, Sacbee.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Combs has both utilized and weaponized his fortune, industry status, and reputation to hide a volatile temper and disturbing behavior for decades.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of utilized
Verb
  • The gathering of seven survivors includes one who was an adult when abused, a recognition of the new frontier of the abuse crisis facing the church.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Throughout the season, the show jumps back and forth from Lizzie’s story to the 1990s, where serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Sarah Paulson) is on the run after murdering a series of men who abused her.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of abused
Verb
  • The village of Robbins, which applied for $350,000, received $150,000, according to the data.
    — A.D. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Its ability to withstand stamping is important because battery components often need to be shaped into complex forms after the coating is applied.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of applied
Verb
  • Dimensions 8 and 24 harbor special symmetries that the researchers leveraged to cram them with spheres.
    — Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026
  • According to the former trade officials who wrote the brief to the CIT, however, the trade statute was never intended to be leveraged this way.
    — Kate Nishimura, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of leveraged
Verb
  • The seed may have been employed as a painkiller or as a social and cultural practice still influencing its modern use.
    — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Once employed for red-carpet transformations for some ultra-glamorous lengths, extensions are increasingly becoming an everyday styling tool as a way to add density, movement, or just a few extra inches without fundamentally changing a cut.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of employed
Verb
  • Learning From Presidential Focus ​​History offers examples of leaders who harnessed pivotal moments to drive enduring progress, refusing to let distractions derail them.
    — Stewart McLaurin, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Stephanie Leshney, founder of Dabble & Dollop, harnessed her more than two decades in the natural ingredient industry to create her line of minimal ingredients, especially bath bombs.
    — Faye Brookman, Footwear News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of harnessed

Browse Nearby Words

exploitable
exploited
exploiter
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Exploited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exploited. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tactile

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All