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
• embarrassing
• shaming
• disgracing
• dishonoring
• rattling
• degrading
• lowering
• debasing
• humbling
• insulting
• cheapening
• fouling
• confusing
• abasing
• taking down
• diminishing
• criticizing
• chastening
• demeaning
• minimizing
• smirching
• ridiculing
• mortifying
• disconcerting
• discounting
• depreciating
• detracting
• decrying
• disparaging
• flustering
• slandering
• belittling
• maligning
• defiling
• condemning
• 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

The sinking of a large ship can also have consequences beyond an immediate military setback. — Holmes Liao, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026

Coast Guard and New York City officials also didn't respond to questions about the sinking of the ships. — ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026

One of his first major tests in office was the sinking of the Kursk, a nuclear submarine that went down with 118 sailors on board. — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026

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

Verb

Munetaka Murakami nearly had the Chicago White Sox’s first hit Thursday night, leading off the seventh inning with a sinking liner to right field. — Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026

There's a panel showing William the Conqueror's soldiers sinking into quicksand, and several decapitations. — Lauren Frayer, NPR, 9 Sep. 2026

General manager Andrew Berry and his staff have done a good job cleaning up their own mess caused by the 2022 Watson trade sinking the ship. — Zac Jackson, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Captain Dixon says thankfully things were much calmer on Monday compared to Sunday, when there were constant Mayday calls from a man overboard to a sinking vessel — even an explosion at a dock nearby as a boat was refueling. — Asal Rezaei, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026

And in an industry buffeted by volatility and uncertainty, that strategy might just be the difference between sinking and swimming. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2026

In 1868, William Berkele purchased part of the land near the tavern that had access to that sinking spring and opened a distillery there. — Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal, 8 Sep. 2026

After right fielder Jung Hoo Lee made a sliding catch on Francisco Lindor’s sinking liner, the Giants intentionally walked Soto after Seymour threw two pitches out of the strike zone. — ABC News, 6 Sep. 2026

Milei casts the Malvinas sovereignty claim as a sacred national cause that transcends politics, seeking to rally Argentines amid economic strain, sinking approval ratings and lingering trauma from the 1982 war. — Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026