Synonyms of flattening

flattening

verb

present participle of flatten

1

as in smoothing

to make free from breaks, curves, or bumps

flattened out the wrinkled paper before attempting to trace the pattern

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smoothing
• shaving
• trimming
• raking
• planing
• evening
• leveling
• smoothening
• clipping
• laying
• paring
• cropping
• pruning
• combing
• spreading
• pressing
• surfacing
• carding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• roughing
• roughening
• wrinkling
• bending
• pitting
• denting
• rumpling
• coarsening
• kinking

2

as in whipping

to defeat by a large margin

if you don't understand the rules, you're going to get flattened when you try to play

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of flattening

In 2020, a massive storm called a derecho struck Iowa, producing hurricane-force winds and flattening over 10 million acres of corn and soybean fields. — Derek Norman, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Startlingly, the strikes appeared to move in a geographical line from the northeast to the southwest, flattening whole neighborhoods in a way that suggested little differentiation between civilian and military structures. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

The consonants and vowels rolling loosely on my tongue and then flattening into music. — Literary Hub, 20 July 2026

Last week torrential rains triggered deadly mudslides and flooding in Cox’s Bazar, flattening shelters and killing more than a dozen people, including children. — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 16 July 2026

Compression packing cubes, in particular, are critical for saving space and flattening clothes as much as possible. — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 10 July 2026

The date was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Tunguska impact of 1908, when an asteroid exploded over Siberia, flattening millions of trees in an 830 square mile (2,148 sq km) area. — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 26 June 2026

Here, starvation is a tool of war, one of the many tactics the militias use before flattening a town. — Janine Di Giovanni, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026

Grant asks Chris about the boxing gloves now for sale in the night store, but Katie forestalls him by running over and grabbing them, nearly flattening Chris. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 16 June 2026