HARBORING Synonyms: 93 Similar and Opposite Words

harboring

verb

present participle of harbor

as in having

to keep in one's mind or heart he had long harbored a grudge against his old employer, who had high-handedly fired him without cause

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in accommodating

to provide with living quarters or shelter the woods in our suburb harbor deer, foxes, raccoons, and skunks

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sheltering

to be or provide a shelter for the little cabin is harbored from the wind by a thick growth of pines

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

exposing

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 harboring Wood cutting boards are notorious for harboring bacteria within their organic surface. —

Heather Bien, Southern Living, 5 June 2026 The 32-year-old grew up in Boise, Idaho, playing football on his high school team but harboring dreams to perform. —

Luke Chinman, PEOPLE, 2 June 2026 Jaime Dunaway-Seale, the report author, said college students may be harboring unrealistic hopes about starting pay in an era of steadily rising costs for housing, consumer goods and most everything else. —

Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 29 May 2026 New Delhi vehemently denied the allegations and accused former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of harboring Sikh extremists of the Khalistan movement. —

ABC News, 25 May 2026 O’Ward will go into his seventh Indy 500 on Sunday not only harboring his own hopes of success, but also as part of McLaren’s bid to replicate its recent Formula 1 success. —

Luke Smith, New York Times, 24 May 2026 Murderous girlfriends, adorable aliens and retirement communities harboring dark and deadly secrets. —

Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026 Wilde and Seth Rogen play longtime marrieds harboring a laundry list of resentments who host their upstairs neighbors (Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton) for an evening of fun. —

Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026 The series investigates how three successful brothers ascended in the elite world of luxury real estate and private security in Miami and New York, all while harboring an extremely dark secret. —

Katie Campione, Deadline, 11 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for harboring

Verb

But during the commonwealth’s rebuttal case, his then-acting supervisor denied having plans to meet with Banfield that day and said his other managers were out of town.

— Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 5 June 2026
One thing, too, that Sara and I talked about early on was having the crew and the musicians eat lunch together every day.

— Chris Willman, Variety, 4 June 2026