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

Sandoval’s ex, Dillon Maquindang, stood at a podium Thursday morning and decried the defendant for cheating on them, manipulating them and taking out his failures on Maquindang’s family. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2026

In recent years, totalizing ideologies such as communism, fascism, and Islamism have found dedicated audiences on social media, and the proliferation of demagogues manipulating people for malign ends is an ever-present worry. — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026

And when the stage team struggled with manipulating the onstage smoke machine, Sheinkopf and DeVito designed and 3D-printed a custom part that night to fix it. — Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

What is your reaction to Drew being the one to rat you out about lying and manipulating Angela with your dead mother story? — Matt Minton, Variety, 31 July 2026

For example, a person who comes to believe that public health officials are secretly manipulating information may be more receptive to claims that vaccines contain hidden dangers. — Art Jipson, The Conversation, 30 July 2026

Pamela Smart, whose conviction for manipulating her teenage lover into killing her husband became one of America's most notorious murder cases, has asked a New Hampshire judge to let her latest bid for a new trial move forward. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 25 July 2026

Football is all about engaño (trickery) — looking one way and passing the other, feinting to go left and swiftly moving right, manipulating the opposition and tricking them to open up those little spaces. — Xavi, New York Times, 19 July 2026

The company has repeatedly denied manipulating election results and says its technology contains safeguards designed to detect irregularities. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026