LUMPS Synonyms: 361 Similar and Opposite Words

lumps 1 of 2

noun

plural of lump

as in chunks

a small uneven mass she dumped a lump of clay on the table and started to sculpt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in swellings

a small rounded mass of swollen tissue I got a good-sized lump on my head from that fall

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in tumors

an abnormal mass of tissue advised by her doctor to examine her breasts regularly for unusual lumps

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in defeats

failure to win a contest you can't win all the time, so learn to take your lumps in stride

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in idiots

a stupid person gazed disgustedly at the lump her daughter had married

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in hulks

a big clumsy often slow-witted person standing next to those ballet dancers, with their graceful way of moving, I felt like a lump

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

lumps

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of lump

as in collects

to bring together in one body or place when we lumped all of our pocket change together, we found that we had just enough a buy a carton of ice cream

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shuffles

to move heavily or clumsily while I was on crutches, I was lumping about the house like an elephant

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 lumps

Noun

The longer the sweet potatoes heat in the Dutch oven, the more the lumps will soften. — Candy Hom, AJC.com, 7 Nov. 2026 Morton kosher salt in food processor until no lumps remain, about 1 minute. — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2026 The offensive line has taken its lumps this season, but Denman said the running backs and offensive line are still working together to get on the same page. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Oct. 2026 After lumps caused by the fungus started appearing on his forehead and neck, doctors discovered that the fungus had eaten holes through parts of his spine and skull. — Dominique Mosbergen, Time, 27 Oct. 2026 Hopefully, Miami can begin to reap the benefits from the lumps that the trio of defensive linemen — Grant, Phillips and Biggers — received during their up-and-down rookie campaigns in 2025. — Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026 Peet, who had been screened since her late 30s because of dense breast tissue and prior benign lumps, was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation and is now on tamoxifen. — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026 Jay just gets bumped from one squishy chamber of viscous lumps to another, fighting like hell to avoid following his squid adversary through a puckering hole and deeper into the digestive system, where the air turns into methane. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026 Any everything else … Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has taken his lumps this season. — Jonathan Jones, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2026

Verb

State records say two other now-inactive companies the indictment lumps in with those seven, Online Insurance Auctions and Insurance Auctions, LLC, were run (on paper) by Georgios Alexopoulos out of Fort Lauderdale. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026 That number lumps new deadbot platforms in with much more widely used and established grief tech, like online memorials, counseling resources, and estate planning tools. — Lissa Soep, Vox, 17 Oct. 2026 The baseball-size crabcake arrives at your table, its jumbo lumps glistening and broiled to a gentle golden brown. — Warren Rojas, Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2026 The report lumps vastly different jobs into the same broad picture. — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 Aug. 2026 The current poll lumps together social media and messaging apps and digs into the reasons folks might quit. — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 6 Aug. 2026 Critics also say Horvath lumps together different types of ed tech and doesn’t grapple with research that supports moderate use of computers in school. — Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 31 May 2026 Most lumps such as these are noncancerous lipomas, or fatty tumors, and a decision on whether to remove them is based on whether the lumps interfere with movements or threaten other issues. — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2026 Advertisement Breaking it down Artificial intelligence is an umbrella-term for several different technologies, from autonomous vehicles to chatbots—and the database lumps these together without a comprehensive structure. — Harry Booth, Time, 19 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lumps

Noun

Like any problem, Rosenthal says, the best way to start is by breaking it down into smaller, manageable chunks—in this case, quite literally.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2026
Previously staunchly pro-Vucic media outlets quickly adopted a more neutral position, while some television channels canceled chunks of their programs altogether and owners reportedly fled the country.

— Jovana Gec, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of chunks

Noun

Burls are sound, hard, woody swellings or protrusions that form on the trunks, branches, or roots of trees.

— Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 25 July 2026
This microscopic roundworm lays its eggs in root tissues, causing swellings or galls to develop on infected roots.

— Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 21 June 2026

Definition of swellings

Noun

In contrast to many high-income settings, children with malignant diseases such as leukemias and solid tumors represent a relatively small proportion – about 4% – of patients who would benefit from a palliative care approach.

— Emilee Flynn, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2026
When tumors grow, for example, oxidative stress in the body increases, which leads to the breakdown of fatty molecules within cells into smaller, volatile compounds, Woollam says.

— Marta Zaraaska, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of tumors

Noun

Instead, fog clung to every nook and crevice of the glacial hulks surrounding us.

— Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Oct. 2026
Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low because of drought that the hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships — and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth — are emerging into view.

— CBS News, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of hulks

Browse Nearby Words

lump (it)

lumps

lumps (it)

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Lumps.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lumps. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of lumps

noun

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

valorous

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes