LIMPING Synonyms: 87 Similar and Opposite Words

limping 1 of 2

noun

as in exhaustion

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limping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of limp

as in shuffling

to walk while favoring one leg she limped all day after stubbing her toe on the lawn sprinkler

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stumbling

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually the damaged boat limped back into port

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dragging

to move slowly we'll have to stop limping if we are ever going to make our destination in time

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 limping

Noun

In recent days, young Knicks fans have been made to digest from their dreary Boomer elders heavy doses of old-timey hoops lore, but mainly about the 1970 title series, featuring Willis Reed’s limping, yet noble appearance in Game Seven, his injured leg shot up with painkillers. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 14 June 2026 Carter did not look good limping off the practice field. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 8 June 2026 With the Bulls’ season limping toward a finish and the transfer portal opening tomorrow, Chapel Hill clearly didn’t want to wait. — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 6 Apr. 2026 The chopper flew across New York harbor and landed at a Manhattan heliport, where Maduro, limping, was loaded into an armored vehicle. — Michael R. Sisak, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2026 South Carolina wide receiver Nyck Harbor scored on an 80-yard reception in the second quarter and ran into the tunnel limping following the play. — CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025 Springer fell to the ground in pain and was eventually helped off the field limping. — Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2025 Once off the field, Burrow was observed limping in the tunnel of the stadium with no shoe on his left foot. — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 14 Sep. 2025 While Belly writes thank-you cards for her bridal shower, Conrad enters the house limping. — Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025

Verb

On the phone, my friend Monika is telling me about a lost dog in her Salt Lake City neighborhood, a blue heeler who’s been seen limping and has evaded capture. — Literary Hub, 29 June 2026 Toronto Star via Getty Images The Toronto Blue Jays are limping into the All-Star break after a first half defined by injury setbacks and struggle for playoff contention. — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026 Current internet safety proposals in front of Congress are limping along, while countries from Australia to China implement online child safety laws. — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 29 June 2026 Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the collision, showing the teenager limping away from the scene before collapsing near his scooter. — Peter D'oench, CBS News, 24 June 2026 The remarkable performance by Messi laid to rest any concern about his hamstring scare, which had fans worried after he was seen limping off of the field during a Major League Soccer matchup on Sunday, May 24. — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 17 June 2026 Willis Reed limping to the court for a Game 7. — Tim Reynolds, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026 Throughout training this week, Bombito was seen wincing when taking tight turns and limping at times following drills. — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 11 June 2026 Officers found one of the dogs limping from an apparent injury and determined the home was not fit to properly care for animals, Roseville police said. — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 10 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for limping

Noun

Like Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed fighting to exhaustion, the two aging legends will look to do the same with a round-of-16 spot on the line.

— David Hickey, NBC news, 2 July 2026
That gap between outward performance and inward exhaustion is what causes many owners to question their own judgment.

— Scott Hanson, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Definition of exhaustion

Verb

Getty Images The Toronto Blue Jays have been struggling with injuries across the roster this season, shuffling the big-league roster and the lower levels of the organization as a result.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
The administration dissolved the CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, shuffling staffers to other divisions and interrupting work on the disease.

— Stephanie Armour, CBS News, 1 July 2026

Definition of shuffling

Verb

Australia’s online platforms are stumbling at the very first step in implementing age checks for users, rendering a world-first teen social media ban ineffective, a study by a team that advised the government’s rollout of the curbs found.

— Reuters, NBC news, 7 July 2026
Which is why Rhaenyra stumbling during her first days on the job really sucks as a Team Black truther.

— The Editors, Vulture, 3 July 2026

Definition of stumbling

Verb

On Tuesday, the roller-coaster ride for AI stocks whipped back down, dragging Wall Street lower.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
With the process dragging on for months, the split of drama and comedy into separate departments, with Smith as head of the former, emerged as a likely scenario by mid-May.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 8 July 2026

Definition of dragging

Noun

Warships may board vessels suspected of piracy, slave trading, statelessness or false flagging.

— John Calabrese, The Conversation, 6 July 2026
The footnote says that while the locations of some gas lines were marked with painting and flagging, the location of the gas line that was struck by a third-party contractor had not been identified and marked.

— Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 1 July 2026

Definition of flagging

Verb

For much of the game in Atlanta, Egypt was in control, hobbling Argentina early.

— Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 7 July 2026
Koné, 24, could be seen hobbling onto the field on his good leg to celebrate with his teammates after Stephen Eustáquio scored a game-winning shot in extra time.

— Jaclyn Hendricks, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026

Definition of hobbling

Verb

Trump taking the country to war with Iran, in part at the urging of his pal Bibi — without any sensible plan, debate, sanction from Congress or consideration as to how this might hurt Americans already struggling to make ends meet.

— Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
The rules were altered in 2004 at the urging of Algeria, which was struggling to field a competitive national team with wholly domestic players and saw dozens of better prospects from the diaspora living in France.

— Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2026

Definition of struggling

Browse Nearby Words

limpidness

limping

limpness

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Style

“Limping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/limping. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of limping

noun

verb

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