PUSHES AROUND Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

pushes around

verb

present tense third-person singular of push around

as in pressures

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pushes around

Verb

Fundamentally, this problem stems from science’s publish-or-perish culture, which pressures academics to constantly publish papers in prestigious journals to secure funding and advance their careers.

— Benjamin Skuse, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Oct. 2026
The majority of his night was spent scrambling from a Seahawks defense that pressures the quarterback at the third-highest rate in the league.

— Sam McDowell October 25, Kansas City Star, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of pressures

Verb

Moving them forces Republicans to defend high tariffs, an endless war and skyrocketing healthcare costs.

— Thomas Kahn, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026
The dinosaur attacks have at least one upside, though, as running from the prehistoric beasts forces Denise and Greg to overcome their marital tension.

— Mya Copeland, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of forces

Verb

Not the kind of empathy that simply allows someone to understand another person’s struggles, but the kind that compels them to do something about it.

— Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
Here, Hendrikx plays anthropologist to a culture that compels each of us—whether a rider or not—to find our own vehicle for fulfillment, then take it to redline.

— Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of compels

Verb

The stabs at humor also fall flat, even if the gimmick of a priest injecting his enemies with a serum that obliges them to attend mass every Sunday is kind of fun the first time, but not really the second or third.

— Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026
And Ric Salinas, who plays Chachalacani, humorously obliges, bringing his Culture Clash vaudeville skills to the role of the sentry who’s caught between the rock of Klion’s tyranny and his fellow feeling for Antíkona’s sympathetic cause.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of obliges

Verb

The trailer shows Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria (Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu), fighting for her heart, health and voice, as the Viennese court constrains her.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
This further constrains the supply of homes available to buyers.

— Sheldon H. Jacobson, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of constrains

Verb

Locked under floors of concrete and alone in his cell with just a toilet and steel bed, Jurek coerces the man in the cell next to him to bash his head in.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 30 Oct. 2026
However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025

Definition of coerces

Verb

Burke Dennings, an eccentric film director, is drunk during a party, and harasses Karl, the family caretaker.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Oct. 2026
Then Murphy takes a swing at a cop when the flatfoot harasses the two of them during a misunderstanding in an alleyway, and he’s arrested.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of harasses

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

pushes

pushes around

pushes off

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pushes around.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pushes%20around. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of pushes around

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

wabi-sabi

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes