MANIPULATIVE Synonyms: 94 Similar and Opposite Words

manipulative

adjective

Definition of manipulative

as in deceptive

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of manipulative Obsessed with recovering her fortune, Magdalen’s uses of disguise and performance become manipulative, treacherous, and even cruel. — Literary Hub, 24 July 2026 The real culprit is a manipulative drug dealer (Ben Foster, who’s becoming the go-to actor to play creeps) who swoops in and steals Mike’s lady love, Sophia (Shailene Woodley). — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 23 July 2026 Over time, use should shift away from the handful of manipulative giants who now dominate our kids’ free time. — Ravi Iyer, Time, 18 July 2026 Searching for meaning in House of the Dragon is tricky, when nearly everyone on Teams Green and Black has been violent or manipulative in their ever-reckless war for power. — The Editors, Vulture, 17 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for manipulative

Recent Examples of Synonyms for manipulative

Adjective

The county attorney presented a plan to sue several big pharma companies for the deceptive marketing practices that triggered the opioid epidemic, following the pattern established by lawsuits filed against tobacco companies starting in the 1990s.

— Guthrie Scrimgeour, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2026
Outside companies can test systems for cybersecurity risks, deceptive behavior, privacy failures, bias and dangerous capabilities.

— Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of deceptive

Adjective

The mutual trust and goodwill that xenia sought to cultivate has been eroded by this one deceitful act, creating a world that is defined by this moral violation.

— Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 19 July 2026
Keep your actual and suspected traitors closer – the non-loyal, uncommitted, secretive, suspicious, dishonest, deceitful, chronically negative, and regularly undermining.

— Peter D. Banko, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

Definition of deceitful

Adjective

Some players cited the league’s partnerships with sports betting companies as hypocritical or even laying the foundation for this sort of scandal.

— Zack Meisel, New York Times, 28 July 2026
Amendments placed on the ballot by lawmakers would still need only a statewide majority — a distinction critics call hypocritical.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 27 July 2026

Definition of hypocritical

Adjective

The plot involves two sons of rich, miserly fathers in love with girls their fathers will never approve of and what happens when the fathers’ devious servants decide to give the boys a hand.

— Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
One by one, suitors including the devious Antinous (Robert Pattinson) fail at the challenge, until Odysseus volunteers and succeeds with ease.

— Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 18 July 2026

Definition of devious

Adjective

Prince John is the cunning younger son of King Henry II whose ambition and shifting loyalties intensify the kingdom’s growing power struggle.

— Denise Petski, Deadline, 29 July 2026
Booboo Stewart’s Jay was brought up to be a cunning thief, just like his father Jafar.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 25 July 2026

Definition of cunning

Adjective

In other words, surveillance technology is responsible for taking 50 crooked cops off the beat.

— Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Seeing no evil are legions of crooked operators — customs inspectors, tax agents, military commanders, among other enablers.

— Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of crooked

Adjective

After Russia’s attempts to exploit social-media networks in 2016, some tech companies also started trying to monitor and police this kind of underhanded meddling.

— David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Before Mbappe scored his penalty, Gustavo Velazquez, the Paraguayan defender, scuffed the penalty spot, another underhanded attempt to disturb the tournament favourites.

— Adam Crafton, New York Times, 5 July 2026

Definition of underhanded

Adjective

Meanwhile, the palace has been besieged by loutish suitors, led by the scheming Antinous (Robert Pattinson), all of them vying for the queen’s hand in remarriage and mooching off the absent king’s food and wine.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
The show gestures at the classic targets of old-timey sexism, small-mindedness, and nativism—much of it embodied by Gasteyer’s scheming character—but only in the safest possible ways.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026

Definition of scheming

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mankind

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“Manipulative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manipulative. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of manipulative

adjective

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