Synonyms of mending

mending 1 of 3

noun

as in rehabilitation

the process or period of gradually regaining one's health and strength

it was a long slow mending of his injuries from the car crash, but he's fine now

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rehabilitation
• recovery
• healing
• rehab
• convalescence
• recuperation
• comeback
• revival
• resuscitation
• survival
• snapback
• rally

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• failing
• deterioration
• weakening
• sinking
• decline
• worsening
• degeneration
• fading
• regression
• languishing
• wilting
• withering
• wasting (away)
• relapse

mending

2 of 3

adjective

as in recovering

Related Words

• recovering
• better
• improved
• recuperating
• cured
• convalescing
• rehabilitated
• hardy
• stalwart
• robust
• hearty
• lusty
• tough
• able-bodied
• bouncing
• healthful
• flourishing
• well
• fit
• whole
• strong
• conditioned
• wholesome
• blooming
• thriving
• chipper
• rugged
• healthy
• sound
• hale
• well-conditioned
• flush

Dissimilar Words

• ill
• ailing
• sick
• poorly
• down
• bad
• unsound
• unhealthy
• indisposed
• unwell
• punk
• peaked
• symptomatic
• sickened
• peaky
• run-down
• lousy
• seedy
• sickish
• cruddy

mending

3 of 3

verb

present participle of mend

1

as in repairing

to put into good shape or working order again

that shirt will be as good as new when I'm finished mending it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• repairing
• fixing
• rebuilding
• reconstructing
• patching
• overhauling
• restoring
• renovating
• reconditioning
• revamping
• adjusting
• doctoring
• renewing
• modifying
• improving
• maintaining
• helping
• preparing
• healing
• refurbishing
• curing
• aiding
• regenerating
• servicing
• refreshing
• reviving
• conditioning
• furbishing
• fixing up
• rectifying
• readying
• righting
• redressing
• reforming
• revitalizing
• correcting
• rejuvenating
• freshening
• enhancing
• ameliorating
• bettering
• enriching
• caring (for)
• refreshening
• meliorating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breaking
• hurting
• wrecking
• damaging
• injuring
• ruining
• impairing
• harming
• spoiling
• disfiguring
• defacing
• marring
• disabling
• crippling
• vandalizing
• mutilating
• blemishing
• flawing
• maiming
• mangling

2

as in healing

to become healthy and strong again after illness or weakness

she's mending after a particularly nasty bout of the flu

Synonyms & Similar Words

• recovering
• healing
• improving
• recuperating
• convalescing
• recouping
• coming back
• rallying
• gaining
• reviving
• pulling round
• snapping back
• surviving
• coming to
• coming around
• coming round
• cheering (up)
• recruiting
• picking up
• perking (up)
• pulling through

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ailing
• coming down
• collapsing
• failing
• deteriorating
• weakening
• declining
• worsening
• sinking
• fading
• wasting (away)
• languishing
• degenerating
• sickening
• withering
• relapsing
• wilting
• regressing

3

as in rehabilitating

to restore to a healthy condition

mended the broken plant so that it was soon thriving again

Synonyms & Similar Words

• healing
• rehabilitating
• fixing
• curing
• repairing
• treating
• reviving
• relieving
• rehabbing
• setting up
• alleviating
• attending (to)
• renewing
• ministering (to)
• revitalizing
• rejuvenating
• nursing
• fortifying
• remedying
• doctoring
• medicating
• caring (for)
• physicking
• resuscitating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurting
• damaging
• injuring
• disabling
• impairing
• crippling
• wounding
• harming
• mutilating
• ailing
• weakening
• wasting
• maiming
• lacerating
• mangling
• laming
• afflicting
• debilitating
• sapping
• enervating
• laying up
• sickening
• enfeebling

4

as in compensating

to make up for (an offense)

the proverb "least said, soonest mended" should be heeded by anyone tempted to angrily blurt out things they really don't mean

Synonyms & Similar Words

• compensating
• repaying
• redeeming
• correcting
• expiating
• amending
• making amends for
• atoning (for)
• rectifying
• making good for
• reimbursing
• redressing
• remunerating
• recompensing
• propitiating

5

as in improving

to change one's behavior or character for the better

everyone's written her off as a liar and a thief, but I say it's never too late to mend

Synonyms & Similar Words

• improving
• amending
• behaving
• reforming
• shaping up
• regenerating
• straightening (up or out)
• cleaning up one's act
• bettering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• regressing
• backsliding

6

as in curing

to bring about recovery from

the old adage that only time can mend a broken heart

Synonyms & Similar Words

• healing
• curing
• alleviating
• remedying
• relieving
• soothing
• easing
• treating
• allaying
• lightening
• salving
• tempering
• moderating
• diagnosing
• assuaging
• palliating
• doctoring
• nursing
• medicating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• worsening
• aggravating
• misdiagnosing
• overdiagnosing
• underdiagnosing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of mending

Noun

There’s also a vineyard, a library and a school of arts and crafts that teaches masonry, gardening and farming, tailoring, knitting, cutting and sewing, darning and mending. — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 21 Sep. 2026

Families can participate in hands-on sustainable living workshops, such as canning, pickling, sourdough making, upcycling, mending and sewing, as well as nature hiking and journaling. — Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Occasionally, volunteers dish up free art commissions, mending and repair services or legal assistance. — Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Aug. 2026

That gradually began to change over a few hours of Colquitt’s patient mending, shadowing, blushing, and eyelash-affixing. — John Semley, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026

Which means there’s some relationship-mending to do with Brandon Ingram, who was on the first plane out in the deal for the former Raptors star. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026

Invisible mending The clothing mending most people are familiar with is an invisible mend. — The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 July 2026

Jacob Elordi may have made visible mending look cute on the big screen. — Michele Promaulayko, Allure, 17 June 2026

Simply tossing all your clothes into the washer can sometimes result in damaged garments that require replacements or mending. — Wendy Rose Gould, Martha Stewart, 30 Apr. 2026

Verb

Repair items that can still be used, such as sewing on buttons or mending holes. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 Aug. 2026

Art gives permission to work through emotions For Neita, art therapy is a tool for mending rifts in a family. — Donnisa Edmonds, jsonline.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Bit by bit—which is the way with walls—my interest and knowledge deepened until what had begun as recreation morphed into a hobby job, mending other people’s walls. — Matt Seaton, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026

In fact, so far, all Joe has done is put his head down, commit to mending his relationship with Nathan, and work hard to earn his position as lead deckhand. — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 7 July 2026

Cooking and preparing food, spinning and weaving cloth, washing and mending clothes, and caring for the sick were just some of the kinds of labor that supported the fledgling nation. — Carolyn Zola, The Conversation, 11 June 2026

Dirty or dusty flags can be washed or dry cleaned, and there are no provisions against mending or repairing a flag, according to the American Legion. — Darleene Powells, Boston Herald, 10 June 2026

Tager explained that the process involved mending the canvas, then treating the layers of paint to ensure that the damage was undetectable. — News Desk, Artforum, 9 June 2026

The president’s latest barbs came just days before Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to the Vatican for a fence-mending visit. — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026