Synonyms of sinking

sinking 1 of 3

adjective

as in fading

Related Words

• fading
• dying
• moribund
• declining
• expiring
• deteriorating
• fallen
• passing away
• lifeless
• deceased
• gone
• departed
• decadent
• defunct
• demised
• dead
• terminal
• passed away

Dissimilar Words

• alive
• live
• living
• breathing
• surviving
• quick
• existing
• animate
• being
• subsisting
• booming
• thriving
• flourishing
• roaring
• bouncing
• vital
• lively
• energetic
• spirited
• prospering
• animated
• sprightly
• springy
• perky
• vivacious
• frisky
• jazzy
• peppy
• zippy
• sprightful

sinking

2 of 3

noun

1

as in foundering

Related Words

• foundering
• stranding
• grounding
• beaching
• scuttling
• wrecking
• shipwreck
• wreck
• shipwrecking
• wreckage

Dissimilar Words

• recovery
• salvage
• salvaging

2

as in plummeting

Related Words

• plummeting
• decline
• downfall
• downgrade
• dip
• plunge
• dive
• drop
• comedown
• fall
• down
• nosedive
• descent

Dissimilar Words

• rise
• soaring
• climb
• progress
• advance
• ascent
• rising
• progression
• upturn
• headway
• improvement
• upswing
• betterment

sinking

3 of 3

verb

present participle of sink

1

as in deteriorating

to become worse or of less value

his fortunes have steadily sunk since the breakup of his business

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deteriorating
• crumbling
• descending
• worsening
• declining
• rotting
• diminishing
• decaying
• ebbing
• degenerating
• devolving
• retrograding
• regressing
• weakening
• falling
• sagging
• disintegrating
• atrophying
• slipping
• receding
• decomposing
• going to pot
• dwindling
• going to seed
• waning
• reducing
• downsizing
• souring
• putrefying
• degrading
• moldering
• undermining
• corrupting
• spoiling
• languishing
• lowering
• lagging
• failing
• dilapidating
• drooping
• lessening
• debilitating
• abating
• flagging
• wasting (away)
• wilting
• running down
• breaking down
• de-escalating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• improving
• ameliorating
• upgrading
• bettering
• intensifying
• strengthening
• meliorating
• enhancing
• developing
• heightening
• enriching
• proceeding
• fortifying
• advancing
• progressing
• marching

2

as in plunging

to go to a lower level especially abruptly

I had just bought a bundle of shares of the stock when its price sank like a rock

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plunging
• falling
• dipping
• tumbling
• declining
• plummeting
• dropping
• skidding
• crashing
• descending
• lowering
• decreasing
• diving
• cratering
• nose-diving
• subsiding
• retreating
• diminishing
• ebbing
• drooping
• dying (down)
• dwindling
• waning
• lessening
• receding
• tapering off
• moderating
• abating
• letting up
• de-escalating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rising
• mounting
• lifting
• arising
• ascending
• soaring
• increasing
• growing
• building
• spiking
• expanding
• swelling
• accumulating
• escalating
• intensifying
• enlarging
• upping
• burgeoning
• picking up
• snowballing
• mushrooming
• ballooning
• waxing

3

as in stifling

to refrain from openly showing or uttering

sinks his pride and makes the first step towards a reconciliation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stifling
• swallowing
• suppressing
• submerging
• repressing
• choking (back)
• strangling
• holding back
• smothering
• controlling
• pocketing
• managing
• containing
• curbing
• governing
• quashing
• checking
• quelling
• bridling
• muffling
• bottling up
• squelching

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• expressing
• releasing
• taking out
• venting
• loosing
• unleashing

4

as in vanishing

to cease to be visible

that evening we sat on the beach, dreamily watching the sun sink beneath the horizon

Synonyms & Similar Words

• vanishing
• disappearing
• fading
• melting
• flying
• evaporating
• fleeing
• dissolving
• dissipating
• dropping out of sight
• dematerializing
• evanescing
• dispersing
• blurring
• dying (away or down or out)
• drying up
• clearing
• dimming
• blanking (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appearing
• emerging
• issuing
• arriving
• looming
• coming out
• materializing
• showing up
• breaking out

5

as in reducing

to diminish the price or value of

the slightest nick will sink the price of a piece of Tiffany glass

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reducing
• lowering
• depressing
• shrinking
• devaluing
• depreciating
• downgrading
• attenuating
• cheapening
• devaluating
• breaking
• writing down
• writing off
• marking down
• debasing
• demonetizing
• compressing
• dwindling
• underestimating
• undervaluing
• contracting
• deflating
• downsizing
• underrating
• lessening
• underpricing
• moderating
• abridging
• de-escalating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• upgrading
• enhancing
• appreciating
• inflating
• marking up
• increasing
• bloating
• blowing up
• adding
• extending
• expanding
• raising
• swelling
• escalating
• multiplying
• enlarging
• overestimating
• augmenting
• maximizing
• boosting
• heightening
• amplifying
• compounding
• dilating
• overvaluing
• overrating
• ballooning
• overpricing
• upping
• aggrandizing

6

as in humiliating

to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes

the revelation that he has been embezzling for years definitely sinks him in my opinion

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humiliating
• discrediting
• shaming
• embarrassing
• disgracing
• dishonoring
• rattling
• degrading
• lowering
• humbling
• debasing
• insulting
• cheapening
• fouling
• confusing
• abasing
• diminishing
• taking down
• criticizing
• chastening
• demeaning
• minimizing
• smirching
• ridiculing
• mortifying
• disconcerting
• discounting
• depreciating
• detracting
• decrying
• disparaging
• flustering
• slandering
• belittling
• maligning
• condemning
• defiling
• writing off
• defaming
• fazing
• discomfiting
• castigating
• libeling
• discountenancing
• affronting
• confounding
• abashing
• nonplussing
• denouncing
• crying down
• bad-mouthing
• damning
• putting down
• censuring
• execrating
• reprehending
• reprobating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• elevating
• citing
• honoring
• exalting
• cheering
• celebrating
• praising
• saluting
• hailing
• recognizing
• decorating
• acknowledging
• applauding
• deifying
• boasting
• commending
• complimenting
• congratulating
• aggrandizing
• lauding
• extolling
• eulogizing
• canonizing
• touting
• acclaiming
• highlighting
• lifting
• advancing
• raising
• promoting
• spotlighting
• upgrading
• feting
• playing up
• magnifying
• boosting
• enshrining
• glorifying
• enthroning
• dignifying
• uplifting
• ennobling
• romanticizing
• idealizing
• enskying

7

as in falling

to lead or extend downward

the road sinks abruptly after that curve

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plunging
• falling
• descending
• sloping
• dropping
• dipping
• leaning
• declining
• tilting
• angling
• tipping
• slanting
• inclining
• reclining
• listing
• cocking
• heeling
• canting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rising
• mounting
• ascending
• arising
• climbing
• uprising
• evening
• upturning
• straightening
• flattening
• upsweeping
• planing
• smoothing
• leveling

8

as in weakening

to lose bodily strength or vigor

the old woman only sunk further after she was moved to the nursing home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fading
• weakening
• sagging
• going
• failing
• decaying
• drooping
• languishing
• lagging
• deteriorating
• flagging
• withering
• wilting
• wasting (away)
• emaciating
• rotting
• yielding
• wearing out
• degenerating
• breaking down
• running down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• recovering
• rallying
• gaining
• recuperating
• rebounding
• convalescing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sinking

Noun

This is where the sinking of two 260-feet (80 meter) long, barges will be used to temporarily increase the water levels near the nuclear plant. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 17 Aug. 2026

The narrator has just suggested, facetiously, that someone should install a billboard-size digital counter in Times Square to keep track of Manhattan’s sinking. — Maya Binyam, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

The idea behind the deliberate sinking was to slow down the Soviet advance in the Balkans. — Marko Drobnjakovic, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026

More than 3,000 families in the complex were affected by the quake, residents estimate, and most of the buildings were damaged, with some crushed, tilted, or sinking. — Tibisay Zea, Christian Science Monitor, 27 July 2026

News of the body recovery piqued wide interest in light of the sinking of the Volare, a 49-foot three-story vessel that capsized July 14 near Alcatraz. — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 25 July 2026

When the sheriff's office arrived at the scene, the plane was on fire and sinking. — Abc News, ABC News, 23 July 2026

The sinking has claimed at least two lives and prompted a multi-agency search and recovery operation in one of the Bay Area's busiest waterways. — James Ward, USA Today, 18 July 2026

The body of a second victim was recovered Thursday following the sinking of a three-level yacht near Alcatraz Island and has been identified by San Francisco authorities as a Sacramento County resident. — Michael McGough July 16, Sacbee.com, 17 July 2026

Verb

The young men made an emergency call for towing assistance and were focused on dealing with the sinking boat and leaving the island. — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026

The mission to save NASA's sinking Swift Observatory was called off Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this year. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Because the landing was so gentle, Ship 40 was able to slowly tip over and float in the ocean without exploding or sinking, as prior prototypes have done. — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026

Wall Street is pulling further from its all-time high on Tuesday as AI stocks get back to sinking. — Stan Choe, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026

According to reports, an NRC report identified questions around how maritime nuclear deployments would address hazards including sinking, capsizing and other environmental extremes. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 18 Aug. 2026

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has promised to get growth going again, but her public support ratings, while still high compared to some of her predecessors, have been gradually sinking. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026

Together, the three women are forced to confront old wounds and find out whether what still binds them is strong enough to keep them from sinking. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026

Terafab is asking the state to cover the difference of the maintenance and operations (M&0) and interest and sinking (I&S) taxes using the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation, or JETI, program. — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026