as in stung
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services
since I had forgotten the sunscreen, I was forced to buy it from the concession stand at the beach—where they gouged me for it
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Recent Examples of gouged
But a low spot in the ocean, a channel gouged down into the sand on the ocean surface, or a break in a sandbar, can disrupt that flow and push water through the spot to create a current much more powerful than the surrounding flow.
—
Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
The greedy people will get theirs when people get fed up with being gouged at every turn.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2025
The greedy people will get theirs when people get fed up with being gouged at every turn.
—Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gouged
Verb
-
Sherry recalls one instance that stung in particular, when a friend pointed out his hair loss at a social gathering.—
Charles Trepany,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
-
None stung more than the second inning, when Freddie Freeman led off with a single against Pirates rookie Braxton Ashcraft.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Passed over to his hapless son (Dacre Montgomery), our (anti-)hero wires a shotgun to his head and takes him hostage, claiming that the organization’s business maneuvers cheated him out of a substantial fortune.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
5 Sep. 2025
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The woman lives alone, AFP added, citing local media outlets, and was ultimately cheated out of approximately 1 million yen, or about $6,700.—
Jillian Frankel,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Flat-rate pricing leads to value misalignment, high-usage customers feel undercharged, and low-usage customers feel overcharged.—
Chris Kent,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
-
The sale was made by an international brokerage firm, owned by Boulos’ cousin, which overcharged the seemingly business savvy Kushner by millions of dollars and worked to conceal the true price.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
That event was booze-soaked; Zachary is now many years sober.—
Jordan Michelman,
The Atlantic,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The sod is reset and soaked thoroughly.—
Steven Searcy,
IEEE Spectrum,
31 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gouged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gouged. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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