as in deceptive
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Recent Examples of manipulative
And there are those in law enforcement and the Department of Corrections who’ve described her as manipulative.
—
Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 21 Mar. 2026
When a mysterious beast washes ashore, the villagers abandon him, and he is left with only a manipulative outcast by his side.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2026
This epidemic of often-manipulative messaging is also, in some ways, shrinking the candidates themselves.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 16 Mar. 2026
But the reason my face remained (largely) dry was not that certain movies are more shamelessly manipulative than others — all art is a little manipulative, by degrees.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for manipulative
Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 21 Mar. 2026
When a mysterious beast washes ashore, the villagers abandon him, and he is left with only a manipulative outcast by his side.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2026
This epidemic of often-manipulative messaging is also, in some ways, shrinking the candidates themselves.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 16 Mar. 2026
But the reason my face remained (largely) dry was not that certain movies are more shamelessly manipulative than others — all art is a little manipulative, by degrees.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for manipulative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manipulative
Adjective
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Also, offering free samples is deceptive marketing, due to evidence that 7-OH is addictive.—
Jack Harvel,
Kansas City Star,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Set in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the grandiosity of MoMA is deceptive.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Both the criticism and self-flagellation imply that the act of claiming another person’s words can render these words deceitful, even if the words have been paid for and the content is true.—
Emily Hodgson Anderson,
The Conversation,
25 Mar. 2026
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That downturn cost shareholders who sold their stock during the uncertainty caused by what the lawsuit alleges was Musk’s deceitful behavior.—
Staff,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Last month, White criticized the president’s declaration of war against Iran and his hypocritical stance on peace.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
27 Mar. 2026
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Thomas Jefferson, the great hero of the Declaration of Independence, is shown as hypocritical, cowardly, manipulative, a schemer of every kind.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The show portrays devious, cocaine-huffing young bankers climbing the ranks of global finance, and Yasmin—or Yas, for short—has cut the least noble path of all.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
2 Mar. 2026
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Or, there are a few things audiences shouldn’t even think about during one, let alone find the time to worry about — especially not if our seemingly devious criminals aren’t worrying about them, either.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In state media comedy shows, jokes about Putin are told from time to time, but they are used to bolster his image as a powerful, cunning leader, and hold up Russia as a great country.—
Neringa Klumbytė,
The Conversation,
4 Mar. 2026
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These ambitious, cunning, and often amoral Cold War operatives were usually marginal or even inconsequential figures at home.—
Alfred McCoy,
Literary Hub,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Until then, smuggling weed had been a grand adventure, an escape from a society that had just thrown Prager’s generation into a meat grinder in Vietnam, a repudiation of the crooked politicians and backward preachers and greedy capitalists who were running the world.—
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
17 Mar. 2026
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For the most part, this lineup, chock full of All-Stars and Hall of Famers, has struggled to put up crooked numbers.—
Johnny Flores Jr,
New York Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Celtics weren’t able to create any distance from their pesky hosts until Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the half — one off a nifty underhanded pass from Neemias Queta, the other set up by a Scheierman offensive rebound.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
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In California, the law prevents incumbents from pulling off the kind of underhanded stunt that Garcia and Daines managed.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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After taking scheming actions, the model sometimes doubles down on its deception when asked follow-up questions.—
Harper’s Magazine,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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What initially seems to be a satire about corporate downsizing evolves into a kind of scheming caper romp, before downshifting into something that feels more horror-comedy structured.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manipulative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manipulative. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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