as in engineered
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1
as in exploited
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means
the con man would slyly manipulate the emotions of his marks in order to win their sympathy and trust
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2
as in managed
to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently
spin doctors manipulating the data to make it seem more favorable to their preferred candidates
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in negotiated
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
manipulated the schedule of presidential primaries so that the choice of the party elders would win the nomination
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Recent Examples of manipulated
Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Apr. 2026
Mazzola, 43, also allegedly participated in an armed robbery to steal a manipulated shuffling machine.
—Daniel Arkin, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
David Fischer, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
These were teenagers, and they were manipulated.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
People often describe being yelled at, manipulated and called names.
—Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 7 May 2026
There is a market for not being manipulated.
—Hank Green, Time, 7 May 2026
Continue reading … COMMAND CRISIS — Washington's top brass manipulated reports to hide violent offenses, feds allege.
—FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Gas prices can be manipulated by war, the market or the discretion of how much oil companies want to refine.
—Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 4 May 2026
And getting back to the Jewish donors who supposedly manipulated Ferguson’s efforts to block mid-cycle congressional districting.
—Howard Libit, Baltimore Sun, 3 May 2026
But Habermas recognized that this liberal-democratic ideal was never fully realized—not in the 18th century, when the public sphere was open only to men of property, and not in the 20th, when public opinion had become passive and inert, an object to be manipulated by propaganda.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
Adjective
What emerged was a startling portrait of manipulated devotion that culminated in Jeffs' 2006 arrest by the FBI.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Apr. 2026
Mazzola, 43, also allegedly participated in an armed robbery to steal a manipulated shuffling machine.
—Daniel Arkin, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
Defense attorneys argued at trial that the investigation into the assassination was a mess and that the four were manipulated into taking blame for an internal coup.
—David Fischer, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
These were teenagers, and they were manipulated.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
People often describe being yelled at, manipulated and called names.
—Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 7 May 2026
There is a market for not being manipulated.
—Hank Green, Time, 7 May 2026
Continue reading … COMMAND CRISIS — Washington's top brass manipulated reports to hide violent offenses, feds allege.
—FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026
Gas prices can be manipulated by war, the market or the discretion of how much oil companies want to refine.
—Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 4 May 2026
And getting back to the Jewish donors who supposedly manipulated Ferguson’s efforts to block mid-cycle congressional districting.
—Howard Libit, Baltimore Sun, 3 May 2026
But Habermas recognized that this liberal-democratic ideal was never fully realized—not in the 18th century, when the public sphere was open only to men of property, and not in the 20th, when public opinion had become passive and inert, an object to be manipulated by propaganda.
—Adam Kirsch, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manipulated
Adjective
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Without much public debate or planning, these semi-engineered levees took on a critical and unintended role.—
Farshid Vahedifard,
The Conversation,
29 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The other half want the colorful creatures protected and even exploited to boost tourism in the area.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
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The suit, which exposed how liability laws can be exploited, may have been eye-opening for the public.—
Greg Hodgen,
Washington Post,
14 May 2026
Verb
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The animatronic creation adorably stole the spotlight from the Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal, as well as other human collaborators like Sigourney Weaver (Colonel Ward) and director Jon Favreau (who managed to score a red carpet photo opportunity with the rising lime-green superstar).—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
16 May 2026
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While Indiana was able to get this one to overtime, the Mystics managed to hang on to win 104-102 despite a late push from the Fever.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Verb
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The deal was negotiated by Range Select.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
13 May 2026
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Epps is repped by UTA, producing partner Niles Kirchner, IAG for stand-up who negotiated this deal, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
13 May 2026
Adjective
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The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
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And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Verb
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The return of Prince in the 11th over earned Lukcnow wickets of Devdutt Padikkal, who got deceived by a slower ball, and struggling Jitesh Sharma, who top-edged a pull shot to Pant behind the wickets.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 May 2026
-
The lawsuit alleged that Capital One deceived customers about interest rates related to some of its savings account options, according to court filings on the settlement website.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Every core operation on Liners, from adding a new product to reviewing quality, to pulling in news and handling comparisons, is handled by a team of nine AI agents.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
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The series recreates ordinary Soviet life from the period with painstaking detail and spares no one and nothing in its criticisms of what led to the disaster and how it was handled.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
14 May 2026
Verb
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After Spirit Airlines ceased operations, in the middle of the night on May 2nd, a series of canary-yellow airplanes sat on the tarmac at Newark Airport, arranged neatly like children’s toys at day’s end.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
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According to the victim, the suspect arranged the meeting and provided Davenport's address as the exchange location before stealing the laptop and running away.—
Abby Dodge,
CBS News,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Manipulated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manipulated. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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