MAKING OUT Synonyms: 138 Similar and Opposite Words

making out

verb

present participle of make out

as in coping

to meet one's day-to-day needs we're not rich, but we're making out all right

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in knowing

to have a clear idea of I can't quite make out what she is trying to say

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pretending

to take on a false or deceptive appearance he tried to make out that he didn't mind losing his job, but friends suspected he was desperately worried

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in deriving

to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information as best as I can make out, the police were informed of the incident but didn't think it was worth investigating

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 making out Likewise, this season, dancers making out at Diesel made spectators part of the performance. — Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2026 That’s no longer what, a few years ago, might have been described as a cautious approach, not when audiences are making out-of-nowhere titles like Obsession and Backrooms into buzzy hits and craving something new. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026 And then the other thing was that my friends who were in the audience told me that people in the audience were making out, not only dancing, but actually making out. — Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 7 Oct. 2026 Axl eventually contacted Vance, my DP, directly to shoot the footage of him and two girls making out in the car. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026 The book has the teens making out the first night things went from friends to something more, but the show took it to another level with Bret and Debbie having sex on a lounge chair at a party. — Entertainment Weekly, 13 Aug. 2026 On the night of the Sex Purge, the streets are flooded with attractive, thin, largely heterosexual couples making out all over the place. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 This surge is driven by state funding compacts and a commitment to growing California undergraduate enrollment, making out-of-state admission increasingly competitive. — Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 On July 1, Rodriguez and Hayden were spotted making out at Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s White Party, one month after his split from Jaclyn Cordeiro. — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for making out

Verb

Building and protecting those pipelines will be expensive—but far cheaper than trying to keep the strait open by force or coping with periodic shortages and price spikes.

— Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2026
Quarterback Jayden Maiava and a receivers group coping with injuries will need to keep USC’s offense composed amid the hostile crowd.

— Jordan Puente, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of coping

Verb

In other words, knowing how ads prompt purchase decisions is even more of a brass ring than ever.

— Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
Feels like groundhog day to be back here knowing what the problem is and also knowing that the front office probably can't do anything about it.

— James Mirtle, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of knowing

Verb

Lee ingratiates himself by pretending to be interested in becoming a CO himself — attracted to the manliness and the glamor.

— Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
In a news release, police said that 25-year-old Baldwin Park resident Juan Carlos Amaya contacted the teenage girl via Snapchat and began talking to her while pretending to be 17 years old.

— Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of pretending

Verb

There is just enough wry humor—think Shaun of the Dead—sprinkled throughout to keep things from getting too grim, often deriving from Bryan’s cluelessness and general lack of skills.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026
The Chiefs finished dead last in the NFL with 362 yards deriving from explosive rushes last season.

— Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of deriving

Verb

Any company doing a div-recap is likely taking a forward-looking view that the IPO market will be closed in the short run.

— Hugh Leask, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted her husband’s offenses for witnessing the abuse and doing nothing to intervene.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of doing

Verb

My breadth of experience from my upbringing to fighting for Arkansans from all walks of life, gives me an advantage in understanding that life story every person brings into my court.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026
Being able to share those same schedules, having the same passion and truly understanding what the other person is talking about — that’s a real plus.

— Sigal Ratner-Arias, Billboard, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of understanding

Verb

As for 5-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who was demoted last week, there seems to be more to the situation than Deion is intentionally letting on.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
But if the contract has more to do with his absence than the Steelers are letting on?

— Mike DeFabo, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of letting on

Verb

Cautionary collections Another consideration when deciding what to do with all the leaves falls under the category of health and safety.

— Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026
Roth conversions impact tax benefits When deciding on a Roth conversion, projections should include the current year's taxes, along with an analysis of future years, financial advisors say.

— Kate Dore, CFP®, EA, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2026