as in controlled
chiefly US
to try to oversee all the small parts of (something, such as an activity) in a way that is usually not wanted or that causes problems
He micromanaged every detail of the budget.
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Recent Examples of micromanaged
Fahim grew resentful of Cuomo, according to testimony during the trial, and felt he was being micromanaged.
—
Sean Emery, Oc Register, 13 May 2026
What once was an obstacle to allowing others to help, has come under new management, finally allowing the rest of the family to jump in on the action without fear of being micromanaged.
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 18 Apr. 2026
As the clock counts down to Rachel and Nicky’s wedding, which is being micromanaged by Nicky’s sister Portia (Gus Birney), the Cunningham family reveals a few secrets of their own.
—Sam Reed, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2026
You can’t be truly trusted if you are being micromanaged or scared to make a mistake.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2026
Allen even complained that he was being micromanaged about a week before the Tamarac murders.
—Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2025
Workers who are micromanaged report nearly double the stress compared with non-micromanaged workers, according to the 2023 Work in America Survey.
—Julia Sullivan, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
Their words painted a portrait of someone who micromanaged, monopolized the spotlight and rarely recognized individual contributions.
—Bill Koch, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Sean Emery, Oc Register, 13 May 2026
What once was an obstacle to allowing others to help, has come under new management, finally allowing the rest of the family to jump in on the action without fear of being micromanaged.
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 18 Apr. 2026
As the clock counts down to Rachel and Nicky’s wedding, which is being micromanaged by Nicky’s sister Portia (Gus Birney), the Cunningham family reveals a few secrets of their own.
—Sam Reed, Glamour, 2 Apr. 2026
You can’t be truly trusted if you are being micromanaged or scared to make a mistake.
—Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2026
Allen even complained that he was being micromanaged about a week before the Tamarac murders.
—Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2025
Workers who are micromanaged report nearly double the stress compared with non-micromanaged workers, according to the 2023 Work in America Survey.
—Julia Sullivan, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
Their words painted a portrait of someone who micromanaged, monopolized the spotlight and rarely recognized individual contributions.
—Bill Koch, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for micromanaged
Verb
-
The paint is deftly mottled but its handling lacks the prowess of her later work (see, for example, Being Beamed, 1984, a fantasia of extraterrestrial teleportation in which the watercolor is sumptuous but perfectly controlled).—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
One interested investor was a major Iranian telecom company owned in part, through layers of subsidiaries, by Setad-e Ejrayi, a bonyad controlled by Khamenei.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Seydou Traore caught an impressive touchdown pass from Cam Miller, who was the third quarterback who handled all the snaps this week while Mark Gronowski, an undrafted rookie, watched the 11-on-11 periods.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
4 June 2026
-
Through a licensing partnership handled by IMG Licensing, Alex and Ani is turning characters, symbols and settings from Prythian into a line of collectible jewelry.—
Renan Botelho,
Footwear News,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
But Cepeda and Petro on Sunday night sowed doubt in the result and claimed — so far without evidence — that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors interfered with the result.—
Megan Janetsky,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
-
This person set him up and was manipulated in many ways.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
But critics questioned if the arrangement fully addressed the core national security concerns that motivated the TikTok ban legislation in the first place because ByteDance was set to retain control of some of the US app’s operations.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
29 May 2026
-
The complaint, seen by The Athletic, was accompanied by a letter addressed to California attorney general Rob Bonta.—
Adam Crafton,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
The police negotiated the release of two hostages on Tuesday.—
Escher Walcott,
PEOPLE,
3 June 2026
-
In fact, the city would be adopting a version of the reform agreement Louisville had previously negotiated with the Biden administration and hiring an outside monitor to oversee its progress.—
Topher Sanders,
ProPublica,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
Color grading was supervised by Indian National Film Award-winning cinematographer Avik Mukhopadhyay.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
2 June 2026
-
Only a narrow set of exceptions apply, mostly for emergency aid workers, and those who cross the border will be subject to health screening and supervised isolation.—
Katrine L. Wallace,
The Conversation,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Although each has invested in compliance tooling, their architectures are fundamentally optimized for scale and accessibility, not for the verifiable operational independence that regulated enterprises require.—
Steve McDowell,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
-
The chemical behind the explosion — ammonium nitrate — is not regulated under RMP.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
Brendan Banfield and the 26-year-old au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, both took the stand during the double-murder trial and offered conflicting accounts about the killings.—
Nicki Brown,
CNN Money,
5 June 2026
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Throughout the trial, stress took an enormous toll on Jackson, defense attorney Mark Geragos said in the docuseries.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Micromanaged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/micromanaged. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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