1
as in biting
causing intense discomfort to one's skin
that light sweater will be no match for the piercing wind outside
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loud
marked by a high volume of sound
the frightened child emitted a piercing shriek that could be heard all over the house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in penetrating
to go or come in or into
thoughts of revenge relentlessly pierced her mind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in drilling
to make a hole or series of holes in
pierced his ears with a needle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stabbing
to penetrate or hold (something) with a pointed object
the saber pierced his chest, releasing a spurt of blood
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of piercing
Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
My piercing call seemed absorbed by the heavy moisture, trapping even the echo I’d been accustomed to hearing.
—Jim Tschetter, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2025
Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 3 Mar. 2026
And the high wave-piercing bow can help make for smoother sailing, too, on rougher seas.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for piercing
Adjective
And on Saturday, another bout with foul trouble left him with a permanently piercing scowl.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
My piercing call seemed absorbed by the heavy moisture, trapping even the echo I’d been accustomed to hearing.
—Jim Tschetter, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2025
Verb
The ping of pickleball play produces a uniquely piercing and repetitive sound that has led to contentious lawsuits and controversies across the entire country, including just north in Fox Point, as the sport has rapidly grown in popularity over the last few years.
—Claudia Levens, jsonline.com, 3 Mar. 2026
And the high wave-piercing bow can help make for smoother sailing, too, on rougher seas.
—Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for piercing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piercing
Adjective
-
The Chill Factor Perhaps the most biting statistic of the season so far is the temperature.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Morbidly Jewish finds Raanan at his most biting, acerbic, angry, Jewish, and, as always…loud.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Officers were tasked with combating what officials said was a rise in thefts, people spending money obtained by defrauding the state’s unemployment system and quality of life issues like loud music and the smell of marijuana drifting into stores, according to a 2021 Times investigation.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Buzzer-beaters have begun, the March Madness buzz keeps getting louder, and debates already rage about topics ranging from the top seeds to the NCAA Tournament bubble.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In juvenile court, Van der Woude admitted to digitally penetrating a minor and was ordered to pay Romain nearly $50,000 in restitution.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Ground-penetrating radar can detect nonmetallic objects but performs poorly in wet or uneven terrain, or ground covered by vegetation, and often generates high false-alarm rates.—
Sagar Lekhak,
The Conversation,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Most involve drilling holes into the stump, filling them with the chemical, and then waiting.—
Daniel Scott,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Mar. 2026
-
The team has already finished the first 180 feet (55 meters) of drilling at the Mont Terri underground rock laboratory in Switzerland, a facility that has hosted nuclear waste disposal experiments for three decades.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Ivan Miller, 22, of Blakesburg, Iowa, admitted to shooting the three women and stabbing one of them in interviews with investigators, according to a criminal complaint.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA TODAY,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The next morning, as Nguyen was getting ready for work, Tran shot her in the arm with a BB gun, forced her into a closet and then began stabbing her repeatedly with a knife, Campbell said.—
Sean Emery,
Oc Register,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
While the loss of Showmax was a bitter pill to swallow, there were calls throughout the week for more partnerships, more collaborations, more efforts to unlock cross-border revenue streams in everything from theatrical to free-to-air broadcasting to the booming diaspora market.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Eric Musselman sat behind a microphone at the bitter end of a bitter regular season for USC, armed only with the same explanations for how a once-hopeful season could come so undone.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
From a bungled email prematurely announcing another massive round of layoffs to scrutiny around the company’s $75 million investment in a documentary about the first lady, Amazon heads into its quarterly earnings report next week surrounded by a deafening level of outside noise.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Young’s ending is greeted with a deafening round of applause.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Finally, humans have become technologically advanced over the past few thousand years, entering the space age in the mid-20th century.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Aerial images on Pamplico showed what appeared to be SWAT officers entering the backyard of a home.—
Austin Turner,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Piercing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piercing. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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