PRY Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

pry 1 of 2

verb (1)

Definition of pry

as in to pull

to raise, move, or pull apart with or as if with a lever it took some effort to pry up the trap door

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

join
connect

as in to yank

to draw out by force or with effort a vain attempt to pry the cork out of a wine bottle

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pry

2 of 2

verb (2)

ˈprī

as in to interfere

to interest oneself in what is not one's concern don't go prying into other people's business

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pry

Verb

Eileen Tyrrell, a 27-year-old bookseller, pulled the cushions off her couch to arrange makeshift seating in her Brooklyn apartment.

— Grey Battle, Washington Post, 16 July 2026
The strong currents from flash floods can pull drivers off roadways.

— CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 15 July 2026

Definition of pull

Verb

Then, five days after the best start of his young MLB career coincided with one of his worst moments, he was yanked after just 2 1/3 innings in Sunday’s 11-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

— Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Winco also yanked about 13,500 Roman Candles 8 Shot 3-Pack Firework Devices.

— David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026

Definition of yank

Verb

If the reorganization lag is being compounded by organized friction rather than just cost and complexity, the 8-to-12-year timeline Goldman extracted from the ICT era may turn out to be optimistic.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 July 2026
Because the Lighthouse Nebula is relatively faint in X-rays, the researchers developed new analysis techniques to extract as much information as possible from the observations.

— Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 14 July 2026

Definition of extract

Verb

Her breasts poke at the thin fabric of her gown, and there are shadows in the folds of the bed linen.

— Diane Williams, New Yorker, 16 July 2026
This included one of their players poking a finger into the ear of the Belgian penalty-spot protector Diego Moreira, and responding to the reactionary elbow to the tummy by going down, and staying down, on top of the penalty mark.

— Geir Jordet, New York Times, 15 July 2026

Definition of poke

Verb

In all, designing, building and assembling the horse involved a team of 45, not much less than the number of men on Odysseus’ ship (and roughly the same amount on board after the Cyclops and Scylla monsters had plucked off a few).

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 13 July 2026
This current year, though, feels like a regression, with a lineup that, bar one or two interesting choices, mostly feels like it could have been plucked straight out of 2015.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 10 July 2026

Definition of pluck

Verb

There was something a little therapeutic about messing it up.

— Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 28 June 2026
The sequence in which Carmy tries to talk Richie down from a panic attack feels equally dynamic and alive right to its conclusion — when Carmy pretends they’ve gotten locked in, just as Carmy once was, to mess with Richie’s head.

— Jen Chaney, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Definition of mess

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

prurient

pry

prying

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Style

“Pry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pry. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of pry

verb (1)

verb (2)

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