Synonyms of manipulating

manipulating

verb

present participle of manipulate

1

as in exploiting

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exploiting
• deceiving
• maneuvering
• playing (upon)
• tricking
• plotting
• fooling
• jockeying
• engineering
• duping
• devising
• deluding
• arranging
• hoodwinking
• scheming
• intriguing
• bluffing
• defrauding
• cheating
• gulling
• swindling
• conning
• masterminding
• kidding
• chiselling
• fleecing
• finagling
• hoaxing
• contriving
• finessing
• chiseling
• snowing
• taking in
• beguiling
• machinating
• cozening
• shanghaiing
• hustling

2

as in managing

to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently

spin doctors manipulating the data to make it seem more favorable to their preferred candidates

Synonyms & Similar Words

• managing
• handling
• addressing
• treating
• negotiating
• taking
• playing
• maneuvering
• hacking
• swinging
• coping (with)
• fielding
• grappling (with)
• controlling
• contending (with)
• pulling
• coming to grips with
• regulating
• jockeying
• having a grip on
• guiding
• engineering
• carrying out
• directing
• steering
• finessing
• getting off
• carrying off
• commanding
• responding (to)
• reacting (to)
• micromanaging
• bringing off
• running

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fumbling
• mishandling
• bungling
• botching
• messing (up)
• muffing
• goofing (up)
• scamping
• lousing up
• foozling

3

as in negotiating

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• negotiating
• arranging
• plotting
• managing
• engineering
• maneuvering
• contriving
• framing
• masterminding
• finessing
• wangling
• machinating
• finagling
• concluding
• scheming
• conducting
• concocting
• handling
• conniving
• directing
• concerting
• working out
• hammering out
• intriguing
• hatching
• compassing
• brewing
• angling (for)
• commanding
• cooking (up)
• running
• gerrymandering
• quarterbacking
• captaining

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• blowing
• mangling
• fumbling
• mishandling
• butchering
• bungling
• botching
• messing (up)
• gumming (up)
• flubbing
• bobbling
• muffing
• lousing up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of manipulating

Former Formula One driver David Coulthard has accused the McLaren Racing F1 team of manipulating the Italian Grand Prix race results by issuing team orders during the race. —Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025

The hacker’s malware focuses on stealing cryptocurrency by hijacking and manipulating the user's browser. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 8 Sep. 2025

Was Prater manipulating evidence? —Clayton Davis, Variety, 5 Sep. 2025

One was based on hard-coding logical rules for categorizing inputs into symbols and then for manipulating those symbols to arrive at outputs. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2025

Because there are already far too many Rick Singers running around manipulating people and numbers. —Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Echard consistently denied that intercourse had happened, saying their contact was limited to oral sex, and accused Owens of fabricating medical documents and manipulating pregnancy evidence. —Miguel Torres, AZCentral.com, 27 Aug. 2025

This administration is manipulating human rights platforms, not to promote rights and justice for all but in furtherance of a world where those who have historically held the most power can continue to wield it against everyone else. —Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025

Shannon Amos accuses Kelly Christopher Amos of manipulating their father into signing various legal documents — including new wills, trusts and powers of attorney — that gave him near-complete control over the estate while ignoring the actor’s medical needs. —Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 21 Aug. 2025