Synonyms of hustling

hustling 1 of 2

adjective

as in driving

Related Words

• driving
• diligent
• industrious
• hungry
• dynamic
• enterprising
• motivated
• eager
• venturesome
• determined
• spirited
• lively
• venturous
• impassioned
• competitive
• energetic
• aggressive
• opportunistic
• animated
• gung ho
• vigorous
• pushy
• competing
• ardent
• avid
• assertive
• raring
• rival
• high-flying
• pushing
• aspiring
• pretentious
• keen
• ambitious
• hard-driving
• overambitious
• self-assertive
• go-getting
• rivalrous
• self-seeking

Dissimilar Words

• indifferent
• disinterested
• uninterested
• lackadaisical
• casual
• apathetic
• easygoing
• unexcited
• unenthusiastic
• lazy
• sluggish
• shiftless
• lethargic
• listless
• tepid
• halfhearted
• uneager
• lukewarm
• spiritless
• lazyish
• unaggressive
• unassertive
• unambitious
• ambitionless

hustling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hustle

1

as in laboring

to devote serious and sustained effort

everyone really hustled to get the project finished on schedule

Synonyms & Similar Words

• laboring
• struggling
• striving
• working
• trying
• endeavoring
• toiling
• grubbing
• sweating
• plowing
• slaving
• tugging
• slogging
• drudging
• humping
• plugging
• plodding
• digging (away)
• straining
• moiling
• pegging (away)
• fagging
• travailing
• banging away
• attacking
• sweating blood
• driving
• beavering (away)
• applying (oneself)
• exerting
• buckling (down)
• scratching
• hammering (away)
• essaying
• exercising
• trudging
• scrabbling
• overworking
• wading
• pitching in
• digging in
• grinding (out)
• eking out
• overexerting
• knuckling down
• putting out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breaking
• slackening
• loafing
• easing (up)
• idling
• lounging
• shirking
• chilling
• hanging (around or out)
• bumming
• resting
• lazing
• dallying
• letting up
• playing
• relaxing
• hacking (around)
• unwinding
• basking
• lolling
• goofing (off)
• hanging
• slacking (off)
• goldbricking
• reposing
• dabbling
• dillydallying
• footling
• trifling
• doodling
• fooling around
• messing around
• vegging out
• goofing (around)
• puttering (around)
• monkeying (around)
• pottering (around)
• hanging about
• fribbling

2

as in hurrying

to proceed or move quickly

we'd better hustle, or we'll miss the train

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hurrying
• rushing
• traveling
• scurrying
• racing
• speeding
• driving
• trotting
• flying
• chasing
• zipping
• buzzing
• running
• jumping
• scooting
• darting
• blowing
• stepping
• dashing
• blasting
• bustling
• scuttling
• tearing
• ripping
• whirling
• barreling
• zooming
• shooting
• bowling
• blazing
• jogging
• bolting
• ramming
• breezing
• careering
• careening
• hurling
• rustling
• hurtling
• haring
• humping
• hastening
• motoring
• bundling
• rocketing
• whisking
• jetting
• coursing
• nipping
• pelting
• belting
• galloping
• highballing
• cracking (on)
• bombing
• hying
• cannonballing
• flitting
• beating it
• scuffling
• scampering
• sprinting
• stepping on it
• hotfooting (it)
• making tracks
• whizzing
• accelerating
• getting a move on
• scudding
• shaking a leg
• stampeding
• streaking
• outrunning
• quickening
• overtaking
• beetling
• outpacing
• outstripping
• stepping out
• beelining
• catching up
• arrowing
• fast-forwarding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• crawling
• creeping
• poking
• dragging
• lingering
• hanging (around or out)
• lagging
• poking
• loitering
• dawdling
• strolling
• shuffling
• sauntering
• ambling
• dallying
• plodding
• lumbering
• tarrying
• slowing (down or up)
• dillydallying
• decelerating

3

as in squeezing

to rob by the use of trickery or threats

a swindler who hustled cashiers by getting them all confused while they were making change

Synonyms & Similar Words

• squeezing
• cheating
• plucking
• stinging
• beating
• sticking
• screwing
• doing
• swindling
• bleeding
• defrauding
• rooking
• deceiving
• tricking
• fleecing
• chiseling
• shortchanging
• victimizing
• fiddling
• conning
• bilking
• mulcting
• suckering
• diddling
• gaffing
• exploiting
• stiffing
• reaming
• shorting
• fooling
• hosing
• skinning
• shaking down
• cozening
• extorting
• ripping off
• euchring
• flimflamming
• nobbling
• betraying
• chousing
• thimblerigging
• taking for a ride
• wrenching
• doing in
• taking to the cleaners
• clipping
• gouging
• skunking
• milking
• nicking
• soaking
• wringing
• overcharging
• gulling
• selling a bill of goods to
• wresting
• duping
• bitching
• double-crossing
• fast-talking
• bamboozling
• roping (in)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hustling

Adjective

Americans are spending their days hustling and waiting for the opportunity to hustle, their days broken up into unpredictable units of work and languishing. — Xochitl Gonzalez, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026

And sometimes American Gangster does sound more like a canny career move than an artistic statement, with Jay leaning on cocaine puns like Clipse or Jeezy instead of sharing secrets of his hustling days. — Al Shipley, SPIN, 14 July 2026

There are few travel moments more deflating than racing through security, grabbing overpriced snacks, and hustling to your gate—only to find your flight has been canceled and the line to speak with an agent is already snaking around the concourse. — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 4 July 2026

The main topic looked backward at an instance of not hustling, set against the disappointing start to his five-year, $175 million contract. — Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 30 June 2026

The Pitt, then, is a fitting gig, with its gritty portrayal of a hustling ER full of vulnerable patients and clinicians collectively muscling through. — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 2026

Others of you may be hustling to pay off — or gain — large amounts of capital. — Kyle Thomas, PEOPLE, 24 May 2026

After years of hustling, Survivor’s booming popularity turned Executive Producer Mark Burnett into a champion of the genre. — Shaan Merchant, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2026

The hustling spirit of the gold rush lives on today in the prospecting influencers who toil in the content mines of the Internet, hoping to hit the viral mother lode. — Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

Verb

These slim-fit mid-rise joggers look perfect for hustling around a busy airport, but are also stylish enough to wear while sightseeing. — Kaitlin Gates, Travel + Leisure, 10 July 2026

Langford was injured during Friday’s game after hustling on a double. — Cal Phillips june 29, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 June 2026

Letting go of the idea that success requires hustling at all costs — and replacing it with goals that feel attainable — can help founders shift toward a more sustainable approach, one where progress doesn't come at the cost of their well-being. — Holly Eve, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

Sweeney’s character, Cassie Howard, ends the final episode still hustling, despite the violent death of her husband Nate (Jacob Elordi), the passing of her high school friend Rue (Zendaya), and the dismantling of her OnlyFans account. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 9 June 2026

Clarkson now is showing his value hustling for 50-50 balls while no longer being a liability on defense — a trait that’s followed him throughout his career. — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 3 June 2026

The ball trickled behind second, and Hoerner kept going, hustling his way to second. — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026

Over the past few years, Google has been hustling to reinvent its business for the AI age, trying to keep consumers in the habit of going to its search page as chatbots from startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic become more popular. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2026

An agent is seen grabbing Vance by his jacket and hustling him off stage. — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026