as in deceptive
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Recent Examples of manipulative
But lurking beneath those eyes was a cunning and manipulative killer.
—
Sean Durns, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2025
His current dark and manipulative character work is drawing significant attention and is often praised for its intensity.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
On May 27, Capricorn Clark – a personal assistant who worked in various other roles for Combs and his businesses from 2004 to 2012, then again in 2016 – spent the entire day on the stand testifying about Combs' violent and threatening nature, and his manipulative side as well.
—Josh Meyer, USA Today, 29 May 2025
These reactions mirror talking points found in the online manosphere, the network of forums, podcasts, and content creators who frame women, especially Black women, as manipulative and deceitful.
—Susan Akyeampong, Refinery29, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for manipulative
Sean Durns, The Washington Examiner, 6 June 2025
His current dark and manipulative character work is drawing significant attention and is often praised for its intensity.
—Andrew Ravens, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
On May 27, Capricorn Clark – a personal assistant who worked in various other roles for Combs and his businesses from 2004 to 2012, then again in 2016 – spent the entire day on the stand testifying about Combs' violent and threatening nature, and his manipulative side as well.
—Josh Meyer, USA Today, 29 May 2025
These reactions mirror talking points found in the online manosphere, the network of forums, podcasts, and content creators who frame women, especially Black women, as manipulative and deceitful.
—Susan Akyeampong, Refinery29, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for manipulative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manipulative
Adjective
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In the suit, filed Friday, Newsom says that Fox News had used deceptive edits to claim that the governor had lied in saying that Trump had not called him about deploying National Guard troops during the L.A. protests.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
27 June 2025
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Florida is leading the way in what can become a national movement to crack down on hospitals’ deceptive and unfair billing practices.—
Cynthia A. Fisher,
Sun Sentinel,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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In the 1995 movie Waiting to Exhale, a heartbroken, fed up Bernadine Harris (played by Angela Bassett) gets revenge on her deceitful husband and releases her pain by piling his wardrobe into the back of his luxury car before dousing it all in lighter fluid and setting it ablaze.—
Dave Quinn,
People.com,
23 June 2025
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Francis Fox, pedophile, is a smug, deceitful middle school English teacher, practiced in the art of seduction and the rewards and punishment psychology of B.F. Skinner.—
Heather Scott Partington,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2025
Adjective
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Now, instead of being a source of national pride, many elite universities have become a source of national division, with some Americans viewing them as decadent, hypocritical or even hostile to their values.—
Allison Schrager,
Twin Cities,
3 June 2025
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The true villain is Herod, who, in his hypocritical mixture of slobbering lust and grandstanding moralism, is a model man of power.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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In essence, all this accomplishes is to enable some devious shopkeepers to charge their fellow Jews even more money in these challenging times for adhering to dietary laws.—
Michael Isaacson,
Sun Sentinel,
18 June 2025
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Despite the film’s eclectic cast — from Cera’s quirky Norwegian insect specialist to Korda’s devious, bushy-browed half-brother, Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch) — Desplat chose not to compose distinct themes for individual characters.—
Michaela Zee,
Variety,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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With wit and cunning, the protagonists navigate the ever-present systems of oppression that encircle them and their relationships.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 June 2025
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President Trump does not exhibit Bismarck’s cunning, inscrutability, or proclivity for complicated diplomacy.—
Charles C. W. Cooke,
National Review,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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What Pete Rose did was selfish, illicit, shameful, crooked.—
John Nogowski,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2025
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Meanwhile, a crooked wayfarer named St. Christophe (Jackson) is hot on Broadway’s trail, catching up with the young man and revealing that his dead dad wasn’t, in fact, a stand-up guy.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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The union representing Southern California hospitality workers has accused a group of airlines and hotel businesses of using underhanded tactics in support of a petition to overturn a city ordinance boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles.—
Suhauna Hussain,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2025
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Furthermore, resist being underhanded, especially if these battles are work-related.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That would be Mark Rylance as Henry’s lord privy seal, Thomas Cromwell, an endlessly fascinating and ambiguous figure—brilliant, scheming, moral—whom Rylance animates with gravity and kaleidoscopic skill.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
20 Mar. 2025
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The doors that slam, as farcical doors are built to do, open to work spaces, where a good deal of time is spent scheming and counter-scheming.—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manipulative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manipulative. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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