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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Many are pulling six-day work weeks with mandatory overtime, and increasing numbers have begun calling out as the financial strain and exhaustion mount.—
JOSH FUNK,
Arkansas Online,
8 Nov. 2025
-
The military is striking the boats at the same time the administration is applying increasing pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.—
NPR,
NPR,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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His ability to handle all this now, the rising fame and the expectation to be the best, is because his dad taught him how to always find his center.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Even in states like Texas, which opted not to expand its Medicaid program and continued to rely on counties to care for many of its uninsured, rising health care costs are straining local budgets.—
KFF Health News,
Oc Register,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The suspect was accelerating and weaving to try to shake the officer off.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
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Here, sea level rise is accelerating at some of the most extreme rates on Earth, while hurricanes increasingly are swirling ashore with an unprecedented ferociousness.—
Amy Green,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
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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Per BrightOcular, potential complications include infections, high pressure in the eye, glaucoma, inflammation of the iris, swelling in the cornea, loss of cells around the cornea, deterioration of the iris and more.—
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Arthritis refers to swelling in the joints.—
Carrie Madormo,
Health,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Communities across the United States are reading about — and learning from — each other’s battles against data center proposals that are fast multiplying in number and size to meet steep demand as developers branch out in search of faster connections to power sources.—
Marc Levy,
Fortune,
3 Jan. 2026
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But Mubi’s problems were only multiplying.—
Will Tavlin,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Proliferating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proliferating. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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