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 overcoming

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

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of flattening

Asked how directors can keep AI from flattening their vision, Kim said AI tools can be learned in a few months, while film grammar such as the 180-degree rule, lenses and editing can take years. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 Nov. 2026

Behind the clock tower, the actors ducked and cowered as wind and dust washed over them, flattening their hair and sending papers flying. — Matt Alt, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026

The entire category of celebrity appeared to be flattening in real time. — Dan Adler, Vanity Fair, 4 Nov. 2026

The software does a decent job of automatically recognizing the edges of the paper, cropping or tilting pages when necessary, and flattening the curves characteristic of facing pages in bound books. — David English, PC Magazine, 4 Nov. 2026

But ice, in addition to flattening the soda, will invite you to take longer, let it get diluted, and deflate the texture. — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2026

Lighting director Frédéric Dorieux has said that the team aims for light that is soft, even, and full without flattening the face. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 Oct. 2026

And there are no placards festooned with Motel 6 and Starbucks logos, flattening the American landscape into a homogeneous blur. — David Alm, Longreads, 1 Oct. 2026

Useful feedback can sharpen the execution without flattening the personality. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 29 Sep. 2026