mooches

verb

present tense third-person singular of mooch
1
as in begs
to live by relying on someone else's generosity or hospitality without sharing in the cost or responsibility he's always mooching off of his friends, even though he can easily pay his own way

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2
as in sneaks
to move about in a sly or secret manner I suspect she's mooching around in the background and keeping an eye on us

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in wanders
to move about from place to place aimlessly kids on vacation mooching about the house and looking for something to do

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mooches
  1. begs
  2. sneaks
  3. wanders
  4. lurks
  5. roams
  6. slips
  7. drifts
  8. steals
Verb
  • His father begs him to stop work, wondering why filming a story about the closure of bakeries in Jabalia for consumption by outlets like the UK’s Channel 4 is worth risking losing his only son.
    — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
  • But this begs the parallel question of what the current museum architecture arises from and reflects, and why the oceanic and the oligarchic logics of the museum’s reformation now travel together here.
    — George Baker, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of begs
Verb
  • Every round, the players put on googly-eyed glasses that obscure their vision while Sam sneaks over to tap a Spy, who removes their glasses so Sam can point out which object fits the prompt.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Manual friction sneaks in as systems fail to scale with growth or suffer from poor implementation.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of sneaks
Verb
  • In the book’s 16 central chapters, Roden wanders from central categories such as yogurt, egg dishes, breads and pickles, showing how the countries of this region prepare stunning variations of common foodstuffs.
    — Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 2 Sep. 2026
  • To be fair, some of the mess wanders into the house on its own.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of wanders
Verb
  • But in the brave heart of this fictional protagonist, there lurks a righteous threshing machine, ripe for a Great Rebellion in writer-director Paul Greengrass’ latest feature.
    — Michael Phillips, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • His line of work has taught him that danger lurks everywhere.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of lurks
Verb
  • In addition to two shop cats named Franklin and Nigel, a rotating cast of adoptable rescue cats roams the store.
    — Yvonne Villaseñor, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Ellis’ autofiction book follows a group of high school students in 1980s Los Angeles as a serial killer roams the city.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of roams
Verb
  • The planet slips quickly from view, setting just 35 minutes after sundown by month's end.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The easy style slips right onto the foot, offers actual support, and dresses up your favorite wardrobe staples.
    — Kaelin Dodge, InStyle, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of slips
Verb
  • Prompt tuning, evaluation maintenance, regression testing when the underlying model updates and content that drifts out of date all require ongoing attention.
    — Antony P Gregory, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • As Ari drifts through the gathering, some guests seem to disappear.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of drifts
Verb
  • If someone finds or steals it, does the information remain encrypted and inaccessible?
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Jealousy and entitlement steer the actions of middling white writer June Hayward, who brazenly steals the manuscript of her much more talented friend, Chinese-American author, Athena Liu, after being the sole witness to Athena’s death.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of steals
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.

Browse Nearby Words

moochers
mooches
mooching
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Cite this Entry

“Mooches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mooches. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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