as in increasing
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
rumors about the incident proliferated on the Internet
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Recent Examples of proliferating
While the agency continues to investigate the extent of the damage, independent experts say the incident is a clear sign that the danger of proliferating orbital debris is only going to grow.
—
Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2025
In the years following, Reddit came under intense scrutiny for child pornography, nude photos of celebrities, and conspiracy theories proliferating on the platform.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
Last year, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Ghana’s sprawling capital Accra to demand the government take action, with hashtags #stopgalamseynow and #freethecitizens proliferating on social media.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
The slaying of the serpent was a mythological superspreader, mutating and proliferating across the Indo-European world and beyond.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Picture a proliferating mound that spreads or spills or drapes down and around and is covered with probably a thousand miniature pinkish-white daisies.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 11 Oct. 2025
Multiplying forms of addiction, proliferating mental illness—in the midst of the Iraq War, with the Cold War paradigm dead alongside the USSR, and the Regan 1980s in the rearview, the United States of the 00s was marked by a pervasive sadness captured in Wallace’s prose.
—Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
Of course, Sugimoto cannot photograph these proliferating scenes.
—Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States also developed measures to cajole and coerce other countries into remaining nonnuclear, including extending security assurances, supporting civilian scientific endeavors, and threatening to cut off military support and impose economic penalties on proliferating states.
—Mariano-Florentino CuÉllar, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2025
Humberto Basilio, Scientific American, 7 Nov. 2025
In the years following, Reddit came under intense scrutiny for child pornography, nude photos of celebrities, and conspiracy theories proliferating on the platform.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
Last year, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Ghana’s sprawling capital Accra to demand the government take action, with hashtags #stopgalamseynow and #freethecitizens proliferating on social media.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
The slaying of the serpent was a mythological superspreader, mutating and proliferating across the Indo-European world and beyond.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Picture a proliferating mound that spreads or spills or drapes down and around and is covered with probably a thousand miniature pinkish-white daisies.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 11 Oct. 2025
Multiplying forms of addiction, proliferating mental illness—in the midst of the Iraq War, with the Cold War paradigm dead alongside the USSR, and the Regan 1980s in the rearview, the United States of the 00s was marked by a pervasive sadness captured in Wallace’s prose.
—Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
Of course, Sugimoto cannot photograph these proliferating scenes.
—Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
The United States also developed measures to cajole and coerce other countries into remaining nonnuclear, including extending security assurances, supporting civilian scientific endeavors, and threatening to cut off military support and impose economic penalties on proliferating states.
—Mariano-Florentino CuÉllar, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proliferating
Verb
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The organization’s Green Heart Project, which studies the impact of better air quality on heart disease through urban greening, has found that increasing the number of trees and shrubs in an area can create lower levels of a blood marker associated with inflammation.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Coffee prices have been increasing sharply since the start of this year.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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However, Starbucks has struggled in recent years, along with other Western companies that have lost ground to local rivals amid rising nationalism and reluctance to pay premiums for foreign brands.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Flocks of snow buntings skitter across the sand, rising in confetti clouds.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Dark energy was introduced as a placeholder force to explain this accelerating expansion.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
6 Nov. 2025
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The expansion rate of the universe may be slowing down, rather than accelerating at an ever-growing rate, a potentially groundbreaking new study has hinted.—
Ian Randall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The concept is expanding into practice in the state as a solution to regional food distribution challenges.—
Cristina LaRue,
Arkansas Online,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Future work will focus on integrating snow-deposition modeling with PV yield simulations to more accurately predict energy losses and on expanding analyses to more complex, uneven alpine terrain.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The drug can be taken at home and does not cause swelling or bleeding in the brain, which often comes with monoclonal antibody treatment.—
NPR,
NPR,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Their venom Is not considered dangerous to humans, although a bite would likely be painful and cause swelling similar to that of a wasp sting.—
Jasmine Laws,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Bellettini was previously Kering’s deputy CEO in charge of brand development and is best known for her long tenure leading Saint Laurent, multiplying the size of that business nearly sixfold.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
28 Oct. 2025
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Earlier this year, Unilever’s incoming CEO announced that the company would spend 50 percent of its media budget with creators, while multiplying the number of creators that the company works with by 20.—
Taylor Lorenz,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Proliferating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proliferating. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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