Synonyms of poking

poking 1 of 2

adjective

as in leisurely

moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed

the poking pace of the repair work has put everything way behind schedule

Synonyms & Similar Words

• leisurely
• slow
• dragging
• crawling
• creeping
• lagging
• poky
• dallying
• dilatory
• dillydallying
• slowing
• unhurried
• laggard
• dawdling
• sluggish
• tardy
• languid
• snaillike
• lounging
• lingering
• deliberate
• snail-paced
• loitering
• ambling
• lethargic
• inert
• shuffling
• measured
• loafing
• plodding
• inactive
• strolling
• procrastinating
• decelerating
• tarrying
• inching
• stalling
• heavy-footed
• filibustering
• slow-footed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rushing
• running
• flying
• rapid
• lightning
• quick
• swift
• racing
• speeding
• breathless
• hasty
• speedy
• bolting
• dizzy
• brisk
• ready
• rocketing
• snappy
• fast
• whirlwind
• prompt
• fleet
• meteoric
• whirling
• hurrying
• scurrying
• expeditious
• scooting
• zipping
• scudding
• barreling
• whisking
• breakneck
• careering
• accelerated
• warp-speed
• rushed
• hastened
• quickened
• hurried

poking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of poke

1

as in protruding

to extend outward beyond a usual point

saw his head poking through the window

Synonyms & Similar Words

• protruding
• bulging
• jutting
• projecting
• swelling
• pouting
• overhanging
• standing out
• sticking out
• billowing
• bunching
• ballooning
• bellying
• starting
• pooching
• pouching
• extending
• beetling
• bagging
• stretching
• lengthening
• inflating
• distending
• expanding
• dilating
• doming
• mushrooming
• snowballing
• elongating
• blowing up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• contracting
• shrinking
• compressing
• condensing
• constricting

2

as in messing

to interest oneself in what is not one's concern

told him to stop poking into other people's business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• messing
• interfering
• snooping
• prying
• intervening
• intruding
• meddling
• nosing
• obtruding
• interloping
• intermeddling
• butting in
• invading
• mucking (about or around)
• fooling
• encroaching
• interceding
• fiddling
• playing
• interposing
• tampering
• trespassing
• infringing
• monkeying
• barging (in)
• chiseling (in)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• avoiding
• ignoring
• eschewing
• shunning
• neglecting
• disregarding
• overlooking

3

as in lingering

to move or act slowly

just poked around all morning and didn't accomplish much

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lingering
• dragging
• crawling
• delaying
• strolling
• creeping
• playing
• loitering
• shuffling
• diddling
• dawdling
• lagging
• falling behind
• moping
• stalling
• lollygagging
• hanging fire
• dropping behind
• lounging
• marking time
• tarrying
• dallying
• dillydallying
• idling
• taking one's time
• dragging one's feet
• staggering
• sauntering
• loafing
• shilly-shallying
• ambling
• lolling
• inching
• fiddling (around)
• puttering (around)
• hanging (around or out)
• trifling
• fooling around
• pottering (around)
• messing around
• monkeying (around)
• decelerating
• procrastinating
• plodding
• easing
• temporizing
• lumbering
• slowing (down or up)
• filibustering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flying
• tearing
• running
• ripping
• rushing
• scurrying
• hurrying
• whirling
• whizzing
• dashing
• racing
• scooting
• speeding
• zipping
• darting
• bolting
• scudding
• whisking
• coursing
• hastening
• barreling
• scrambling
• careering
• rocketing
• humping
• hurtling
• running
• hustling
• stampeding
• trotting
• breezing
• bowling
• galloping
• jogging
• sprinting
• accelerating
• hotfooting (it)
• quickening
• speeding (up)
• overtaking
• outrunning
• catching up
• outpacing
• outstripping
• fast-forwarding

4

as in dragging

to move slowly

they were just poking along home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dragging
• crawling
• creeping
• shuffling
• oozing
• inching
• slouching
• limping
• creaking (along)
• snailing
• nosing
• plodding
• trudging
• shambling
• tramping
• lumbering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flying
• racing
• floating
• speeding
• sailing
• whizzing
• gliding
• tearing
• zipping
• hurrying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of poking

Verb

Sometimes only the tips of the reeds and the seed heads were visible, poking above the murky water, and other times the reeds stood fully exposed, with a clear view of crabs clambering around their bases. — Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026

Video posted to social media showed one car nearly submerged, with just its sunroof poking above the water, as people moved other vehicles farther from the rising tides. — Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026

One of the most iconic fall looks is a pair of tall boots with a knit sock poking over the top. — Mia Huelsbeck, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026

And in those text messages, the fiancé, Richard Falor, appears to be poking holes in her story in the days following Park's disappearance. — Andrea May Sahouri, Freep.com, 18 Sep. 2026

Even Watford’s mascot got involved, standing behind one of the goalposts ahead of the game and poking its head out with a binocular gesture. — ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026

Traditionally, there’s this rendering of hell as a dark cave with fire, and there’s the devil with a pitchfork poking everybody with it. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026

With the help of Nollet, Anderson’s hair was blown and teased away from her forehead, with tinges of pink poking through. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 Sep. 2026

Polymarket dropped him like a hot potato, though, once the CFTC began poking into his suspicious Kalshi bets. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 2 Sep. 2026