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
• arranging
• hoodwinking
• scheming
• intriguing
• bluffing
• defrauding
• 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

This is by no means the first time that HAARP has been accused of controlling or manipulating the weather. — Emma Woollacott, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

After Cape Fear anchors us in those assurances, the men’s enmity continues manipulating our expectations and our beliefs. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini did so when Italy hosted the 1934 World Cup, manipulating the games and handpicking officials to boost the chances for the home team, who went on to beat democratic Czechoslovakia in the final. — John A. Tures, The Conversation, 26 June 2026

But Swedish intelligence recently alleged the country was manipulating economic data and that the true inflation rate could be much higher, perhaps as high as 15%. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 24 June 2026

Fears of government officials manipulating world events – including the Iran war – to make a quick buck. — Matt Motta, Fortune, 23 June 2026

Wang then placed his hands underneath her clothing and began touching her breasts before manipulating her arm to touch his genitals, the suit states. — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 June 2026

The researchers used an exploit called a parameter-to-prompt (P2P) injection, which is closely related to more conventional prompt injection methods, which are attacks that involve manipulating an LLM by crafting deceptive text inputs that override the bot’s original instructions. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 17 June 2026

Black consistently plays a step ahead of defenses, manipulating coverages and controlling games like a quarterback. — Tobias Bass, New York Times, 15 June 2026