as in altercation
an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions
the two friends have been lonely and miserable since they had a falling-out
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in bickering
to express different opinions about something often angrily
club members were soon falling out about how to spend the money they'd made washing cars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in proving
to come to be
I had planned to have a sports career, but things fell out otherwise
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of falling-out
Martha Ross, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
Greene has had a public falling-out with Trump over the last few months.
—Tara Suter, The Hill, 28 Dec. 2025
Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2026
Ville Husso stopped 27 shots for the Ducks (36-27-3), who have now lost three of their last four games and are in peril of falling out of the Pacific Division lead.
—Oc Register, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for falling-out
Noun
Online sleuths noted that Duff and Moore recently unfollowed Tisdale on Instagram, sparking more speculation about reasons for a falling-out, as TMZ reported.
—Martha Ross, Mercury News, 7 Jan. 2026
Greene has had a public falling-out with Trump over the last few months.
—Tara Suter, The Hill, 28 Dec. 2025
Verb
The trial, scheduled to begin April 28, will revisit the founding years of OpenAI a decade ago, its falling out with Musk and Microsoft’s subsequent $13 billion investment in the startup.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2026
Ville Husso stopped 27 shots for the Ducks (36-27-3), who have now lost three of their last four games and are in peril of falling out of the Pacific Division lead.
—Oc Register, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for falling-out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for falling-out
Noun
-
Brockton man charged after allegedly shooting at officers Jailson Andrade, 44, faces several charges after allegedly firing at Brockton Police officers during an altercation early Sunday morning, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
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The pair have been in physical altercations in the past, including Manning's 2012 arrest for allegedly punching, scratching, kicking and choking Hartman – whom media outlets have referred to as Manning's former make-up artist and assistant – and slamming her head against the floor and wall.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Ukraine's European allies have promised to maintain their steadfast support, but bickering over a major 90 billion euro ($106 billion) European Union loan to cover Kyiv's military and economic needs for two years has reflected the mounting challenges.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Mar. 2026
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Her grandparents are constantly bickering, worn down by the pressures of keeping the family hotel afloat.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But Viktor Arvidsson, who assisted on all three regulation goals and is proving to be a fantastic acquisition, beat Greaves on a backhander to cash the two highly improbable points.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
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Saudi Arabia is also proving its usefulness as a US ally.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Department of Defense’s quarrel with the Anthropic began after the company refused to back down over contractual guardrails around the use of its Claude AI model in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.—
Devan Cole,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
-
My quarrel is not with the science of LNG itself.—
Joel McPherson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Some of Miranda’s constituents are still fighting the city’s stadium plan, including its cost to taxpayers, which grew again in February to $135 million.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
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Nissie Cadette took the mic and spoke about what an influence Metayer had been on her life, fighting through tears at every word.—
Devoun Cetoute,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Crews found a nearby manhole had a ladder coming out of it and wires were exposed.—
Mara H. Gottfried,
Twin Cities,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Between the athletes the hill helped achieve their goals, to the family memories from locals coming out on free ski Sundays, Howelsen is a landing point for Steamboat to anchor against as the march of time rolls on.—
Spencer Wilson,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The high-profile dispute has, over the past year and a half, ensnared several other celebrities in Lively and Baldoni's orbit as the discovery process in their case exposed the stars' private communications.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
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Owens had expressed frustrations to her mother about an ongoing dispute with her neighbor Susan Lorincz that dated back to February 2022.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Greenwood Village Police Department investigators said the men had been arguing while driving with two other people in the SUV when Hernandez pulled over and everyone but Hernandez got out of the vehicle to cool down.—
Katie Langford,
Denver Post,
3 Apr. 2026
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The city sued, arguing the Angels were violating the lease, but a jury sided with the baseball team.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Falling-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/falling-out. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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