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
• playing (upon)
• maneuvering
• tricking
• plotting
• fooling
• jockeying
• engineering
• duping
• devising
• deluding
• hoodwinking
• scheming
• arranging
• intriguing
• defrauding
• bluffing
• cheating
• gulling
• swindling
• conning
• masterminding
• kidding
• finagling
• fleecing
• 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

She was also seen taking photos and manipulating notebooks on the victim’s desk, the police affidavit said. — Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026

Gandhi has alleged that the SIR is an instrument for manipulating elections. — Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026

Instead of filming hands of actual workers, young men with GoPro cameras strapped to their heads record themselves doing jobs while holding and manipulating what look like grippy robot claws. — Diaa Hadid, NPR, 14 Oct. 2026

Machines can increasingly navigate complex environments, but manipulating everyday objects reliably remains difficult. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 13 Oct. 2026

Present-day police work reflects our current economic order by placing a high value on manipulating such immaterialities. — Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

According to Treasury, Galeano had been detained in the United States in 2017 on suspicion of manipulating ATMs and was found with drugs and backpacks containing a large amount of cash. — Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026

This is not about manipulating AI systems, nor should communications teams sacrifice originality in pursuit of machine readability. — Jessica Wong, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Different views on the topic The administration and its supporters reject the claim that their election efforts are aimed at disrupting or manipulating voting. — Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026