Synonyms of shooting down

shooting down

verb

present participle of shoot down

1

as in ridiculing

to make (someone or something) the object of unkind laughter

nowadays the aging activist is routinely shot down in most quarters of the media and dismissed as an irrelevant crank

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ridiculing
• mocking
• laughing (at)
• making fun of
• poking fun at
• ragging on
• making sport of
• cocking snooks (at)
• scouting
• cocking a snook (at)
• taunting
• teasing
• jeering
• deriding
• gibing
• sneering (at)
• parodying
• scoffing (at)
• skewering
• taking off (on)
• tormenting
• harassing
• imitating
• targeting
• putting down
• disparaging
• belittling
• scorning
• kidding
• decrying
• riding
• ribbing
• baiting
• quizzing
• razzing
• pestering
• rallying
• mimicking
• tweaking
• travestying
• ragging
• twitting
• bugging
• chaffing
• jiving
• parroting
• heckling
• satirizing
• burlesquing
• caricaturing
• bad-mouthing
• joshing
• aping
• harrying
• hassling
• lampooning
• pillorying
• needling
• pooh-poohing
• catcalling
• barracking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• approving
• endorsing
• commending
• sanctioning
• applauding

2

as in dismissing

to reject by or as if by a vote

every one of my fund-raising ideas was shot down by the other club members

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dismissing
• killing
• vetoing
• refusing
• downing
• negativing
• blackballing
• declining
• disallowing
• nixing
• disapproving
• blacklisting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• confirming
• passing
• allowing
• approving
• admitting
• ratifying
• assenting (to)
• supporting
• electing
• sanctioning

3

as in refuting

to prove to be false

the results of several studies shoot down the hypothesis that coffee causes heart attacks

Synonyms & Similar Words

• refuting
• overturning
• challenging
• disproving
• giving the lie to
• discrediting
• falsifying
• rebutting
• discussing
• debunking
• confounding
• confuting
• talking over
• belying
• questioning
• disconfirming
• hashing (over)
• contesting
• overthrowing
• doubting
• debating
• querying
• mistrusting
• mooting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• establishing
• proving
• confirming
• verifying
• showing
• validating
• recording
• backing (up)
• supporting
• documenting
• witnessing
• evidencing
• identifying
• corroborating
• displaying
• certifying
• evincing
• illustrating
• attesting
• demonstrating
• manifesting
• substantiating
• buttressing
• authenticating
• adducing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shooting down

The most important change may therefore be less dramatic than the image of a laser beam shooting down a drone. — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026

The insurgents continued to focus on raids but also engaged in more extensive operations and terror tactics, such as ZIPRA’s shooting down of civilian airliners in 1978 and ’79. — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026

The dearth of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives for shooting down Russia’s more advanced ballistic missiles, which can be combined with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say. — Emma Burrows, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Some speakers admonished the county commission for shooting down the moratorium proposal. — Gabriel Brito, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 26 Aug. 2026

Earlier this week, Russian authorities reported shooting down 791 Ukrainian drones in a single night, one of the largest attacks of the war; more than 600 of them were flying toward the Moscow region, according to the city’s mayor. — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026

Its board of trustees voted to add his name back to the building’s facade, despite a judge shooting down a prior attempt. — Alex Harring, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2026

Meanwhile, Ukraine has already augmented its air defenses around Odesa and other ports, with videos showing aircraft, including an F-16 and a Yak-52, shooting down Geran-4s. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Whatever the mission type, the winning team is determined by total score, which includes both fulfilling the mission objective and shooting down enemies. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 9 July 2026