paying 1 of 3

paying

2 of 3

noun

as in payment
the act of offering money in exchange for goods or services the actual shopping was quick, but with the long lines, paying for the stuff seemed to take forever

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

paying

3 of 3

verb

present participle of pay
1
as in compensating
to give (someone) the sum of money owed for goods or services received we need to pay the cashier and then we can leave

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3
4
as in giving
to produce as revenue an investment paying six percent

Synonyms & Similar Words

5

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of paying
Adjective
The feature arrives weeks after Google started reducing the default storage for non-paying accounts from 15GB to just 5GB in some regions. Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 3 June 2026 All roles are open and non-paying. Staff Report, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2026 The idea is to remove non-paying riders, often who are homeless, mentally ill or taking illicit drugs, from the system. Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026 Customers will still be able to preload $35 for unlimited seven-day travel onto an OMNY card — riding free after paying for 12 trips in any seven-day period — though pre-paying is not required for the unlimited rides. Lincoln Anderson, New York Daily News, 3 Jan. 2026 Under Niccol, Starbucks has brought back its tradition of baristas doodling on cups in Sharpie pens; reinstated self-serve milk and sugar stations; cut 30% of the food and drink menu; ended its open-bathroom policy for non-paying customers; and laid off 1,100 corporate employees in February. Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025 So, while a paying customer willing to spend $100 on a coin bundle will typically receive around 100 Sweeps Coins as a bonus, the non-paying customer who mails in a postcard is capped at 5 Sweeps Coins – a nominal amount. Daniel Wallach, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
The survey shows who will be doing more of the paying. Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 14 May 2026 And many of the jobs that were created are part-time or low paying. Justin Mayo, New York Times, 12 May 2026 Is your job one of the highest paying in Kentucky? Olivia Evans, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Mar. 2026 The inevitable capitalistic evolution of the House settlement that allowed for the paying of athletes guaranteed there would be winners and losers, and the winners are – no surprise – the signal-callers. Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 21 Jan. 2026 Balanced growth, roads and other infrastructure, continuing a positive approach to economic development, attracting industry and high paying jobs. Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 15 Oct. 2025 Notably, Ditto is the best paying of the three, but doesn’t accept freelancers from California, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Oct. 2025
Verb
The nonprofit didn’t report paying any compensation to a staff or board, which includes two former Newsom aides, Steve Kawa and Jim DeBoo, as well as Sacramento Kings COO Matina Kolokotronis. Haley Parsley, Sacbee.com, 16 June 2026 Siobhan and Rekha collaborate to sort Oreos, but Grant spends this entire episode unwisely rushing into things and paying for it, mostly in humiliation. Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 16 June 2026 This year’s design is a soft, baby blue gown — paying homage to the color of the island’s original 1895 flag— embroidered with subtle motifs, including yellow taxi cabs, the Brooklyn bridge and the Puerto Rico’s national flower, the flor de maga. CNN Money, 15 June 2026 This is just one of the resort's many details paying tribute to Hawaiian culture – and with that Disney magic, of course. Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 15 June 2026 The festival has also taken advantage of several anniversaries, with sidebars paying tribute to British auteur Ken Loach on his 90th birthday and a joint retrospective marking Billy Wilder’s 120th birth anniversary alongside Marilyn Monroe’s centenary. Marcus Lim, Variety, 15 June 2026 Catering to this underserved audience is clearly paying dividends. Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 15 June 2026 At that point, a ticking fee kicks in and Paramount would be paying hundreds of millions out to WBD shareholders every subsequent month. Dominic Patten, Deadline, 15 June 2026 Raman wasn’t endorsed by any of her colleagues on the City Council, and she has been criticized by some community leaders in her district for not paying close enough attention to their concerns. Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for paying
Adjective
  • While leaders enjoy greater stability and predictable profits, laggards struggle to remain profitable.
    David R. King, Fortune, 8 Dec. 2025
  • Supporters said the measure could help prevent major cuts to city services by adding a small tax on the most profitable companies.
    Da Lin, CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
Noun
  • Tax documents show program officials spent more than $1 million for things like personal mortgages, car payments and rent.
    Sooji Nam, CBS News, 17 June 2026
  • According to police and court reporting, the suspects were promised payment to carry out a coordinated campaign in London in May 2025, including attacks involving a vehicle and two properties linked to Starmer.
    Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2026
Verb
  • Enterprises create teams, roles and departments whose primary purpose is compensating for what the systems can't handle on their own—reviewers, coordinators, exception handlers, validators and layers of people functioning as human middleware between systems.
    Rajesh Rajagopalan, Forbes.com, 4 June 2026
  • For now, the blue-collar gains are compensating for the bleeding in entry-level hiring.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 June 2026
Verb
  • Others say the appeal comes from meeting people outside their usual circles.
    Hannah Kliger, CBS News, 11 June 2026
  • Per data from the 2024-25 school year, only slightly more than 30% of high school juniors across the state were meeting or exceeding the standard for math.
    Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 11 June 2026
Verb
  • Roughly 20% to 30% of operating expenses will come from spending on agents versus humans in the next three to four years, according to a new report summarizing the views of C-suite leaders from consultancy Bain & Company.
    Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 10 June 2026
  • Cardholders also earn 2,500 bonus miles when spending $10,000 each calendar year.
    Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 10 June 2026
Verb
  • Local groups Sin Tope and Making Movies performed on the festival’s main stage, giving fans a chance to decompress and have some fun, rather than stressing about their favorite team.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 12 June 2026
  • Towards the end of Thursday night’s episode, voice-over narrator Iain Stirling revealed that because the app crashed, the recoupling was moved to Friday night, hopefully giving the first Aftersun episode plenty to discuss.
    Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 12 June 2026
Verb
  • As corporate America began to professionalize during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, companies started employing accounting clerks to keep their financial books in order and inventory clerks to keep track of their wares.
    Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 11 June 2026
  • The companies first struck a partnership in September 2024, with Lionsgate employing Runway’s technology for pre-visualization, storyboarding, parts of the post-production process and a potential repurposing of content across rating scales and genres.
    Corbin Bolies, Variety, 11 June 2026
Adjective
  • Airlines’ lucrative loyalty programs bring in billions in profits, in part when the carriers sell miles to banks when customers earn them through credit card spending.
    Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 8 Dec. 2025
  • Dishing out a lucrative deal to keep him would not really help the Mets defensively.
    Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Dec. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Paying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/paying. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.

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