Synonyms of harboring

harboring

verb

present participle of harbor

1

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

• having
• holding
• retaining
• cultivating
• cherishing
• keeping
• bearing
• carrying
• maintaining
• entertaining
• fostering
• holding on to
• sustaining
• nursing
• preserving
• supporting
• nurturing
• remembering
• hugging
• hanging on to
• sticking (to)
• treasuring
• clinging (to)
• cleaving (to)
• brooding (about or over)
• obsessing (about or over)
• fixating (on or upon)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• denying
• overlooking
• neglecting
• forgetting
• disregarding
• dropping
• refusing
• rejecting
• declining
• abandoning
• repudiating
• discarding
• renouncing
• deserting
• forsaking
• disdaining
• giving up
• scorning
• quitting
• parting (with)
• abjuring
• erasing
• throwing out
• expunging

2

as in accommodating

to provide with living quarters or shelter

the woods in our suburb harbor deer, foxes, raccoons, and skunks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• accommodating
• housing
• sheltering
• lodging
• bunking
• rooming
• bestowing
• camping
• boarding
• billeting
• quartering
• taking in
• encamping
• domiciling
• roofing
• shedding
• bivouacking
• securing
• homing
• chambering
• putting up
• ensconcing
• stabling
• roosting
• tenting
• bedding (down)
• barracking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ejecting
• evicting

3

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

• sheltering
• protecting
• housing
• defending
• securing
• refuging
• safeguarding
• shielding
• warding
• covering
• screening
• placing
• quartering
• shading
• domiciling
• shadowing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• exposing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of harboring

That includes administration officials who are occasionally whispered about as harboring presidential ambitions, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 6 Nov. 2026

But even some Republicans appear to still be harboring misgivings about the administration’s approach to Putin. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026

Multitasking, collage, and fragmentation have long served as survival strategies for women saddled with domestic duties and harboring artistic ambitions. — Leslie Camhi, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026

There is a way to help the good guys overwinter without harboring pests. — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 16 Oct. 2026

And Jeremy is the handsome cipher, the seemingly long-suffering dreamboat of a husband who may or may not be harboring more ominous intentions. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Also arrested and charged with being accessories after the fact for harboring Gallon IV after the shooting were Kendrick Jose Watkins, 36, Frederick Lee Watkins, 31, and Andre Darrell Copeland, 50. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 29 Sep. 2026

Another person has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a young man at a Boise house party, and two women were arrested for allegedly harboring him. — Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 25 Sep. 2026

The United States also took measures to restrict passports during the anti-communist McCarthy era in the 1940s and 50s, refusing to issue or canceling passports of those accused of harboring communist sympathies. — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026