Synonyms of plucking

plucking

verb

present participle of pluck

as in squeezing

to rob by the use of trickery or threats

the Internet opened up a whole new medium for con artists to pluck the gullible

Synonyms & Similar Words

• squeezing
• stinging
• hustling
• cheating
• sticking
• beating
• screwing
• doing
• bleeding
• fiddling
• fleecing
• chiseling
• suckering
• reaming
• tricking
• swindling
• victimizing
• deceiving
• diddling
• shorting
• defrauding
• exploiting
• skinning
• rooking
• gaffing
• bilking
• mulcting
• conning
• shortchanging
• shaking down
• hosing
• cozening
• clipping
• ripping off
• stiffing
• fooling
• nobbling
• betraying
• flimflamming
• euchring
• doing in
• thimblerigging
• wrenching
• chousing
• taking for a ride
• extorting
• wringing
• nicking
• gouging
• taking to the cleaners
• soaking
• skunking
• milking
• wresting
• selling a bill of goods to
• overcharging
• gulling
• duping
• bitching
• double-crossing
• roping (in)
• bamboozling
• fast-talking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of plucking

According to a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors gave the man a topical treatment to numb his eyes and then began plucking out the worms one by one with fine forceps. — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 26 Oct. 2026

Pai Skincare Bright Now Exfoliating Toner, $49 Organic is not as simple as plucking some flowers and putting them on your face. — Brianna Peters, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2026

Getting up from their seats backstage at Bear Shadow, Pandolfi and Falco head over to meet up with the other three Dusters who are plucking a few notes on their instruments under a large maple tree behind the stage. — Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2026

Upending global trade, plucking a dictator out of Caracas, escalating to full-on war with Iran, shredding alliances, courting despots — the major twists and turns of this administration never end. — Kate Andrews, Washington Post, 17 Oct. 2026

LLMs are great at finding blowups that exist—at searching the infinite landscape of fluid scenarios and plucking out the precise situation that breaks the equations. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2026

Fortunately, many dahlia insect problems in September can be solved by walking through the garden in the morning and plucking the offending insects off the plants by hand, then dropping them into a container of soapy water. — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Sep. 2026

Weiss has been reworking CBS News’ broadcast lineup, plucking Tony Dokoupil from the program for the Evening News slot, and most recently overhauling 60 Minutes under new executive producer Nick Bilton. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026

The streamer has found its leading lady for the biopic, plucking an unknown first-timer to play the sertanejo icon. — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026