1
as in bombed
to defeat by a large margin
we ended up skunking them, as our goalie was able to prevent the other team from scoring a single goal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in defeated
to achieve a victory over
our football team consistently skunks our traditional rivals Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stung
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
unwilling to let suppliers skunk him, the restaurant owner inspected every shipment before signing off on it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of skunked
That means two out of three Minnesota turkey hunters are going skunked this spring.
—
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 16 Apr. 2026
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 16 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skunked
Verb
-
McAvoy, from behind his net, bombed an outlet pass that Jonathan Aspirot couldn’t handle.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Even as the hospital was bombed more than once.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Once fierce rivals, the two men were responsible for the country’s first peaceful transfer of power between parties, after Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party defeated Adams and the Federalists in the election of 1800.—
Jelani Cobb,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Disable my adblockerContinue without disabling Contact support|We're using DeVaux’s dream was realized in large part due to jockey Jose Ortiz, who defeated his own brother — who was on top of Renegade — for the win.—
Rohan Nadkarni,
NBC news,
3 May 2026
Verb
-
Otherwise, the what-if blues would’ve stung a lot longer.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The Nuggets have lost plenty of playoff games the past two springs, but few have stung like this.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
On the women’s side, where blowouts are many and upsets rare, some of those first-round games figure to be can’t-watch TV.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
3 May 2026
-
In the co-main event, WBA super middleweight championship fight, Jaime Munguía (46-2, 35 KOs) upset title holder Armando Reséndiz (16-3, 11 KOs) by winning a resounding unanimous decision.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 May 2026
Verb
-
Over the course of a 60-year career, director Ted Kotcheff mastered just about every genre there was to conquer.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Such are the perks of having mastered the form early, while amassing the cultural capital to remake pop in her image.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The reportedly yearlong relationship is notable in that, after their split in 2015, Stocking posted and deleted tweets saying the basketball player cheated, per The New York Post.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
-
This is the same team that cheated and got caught how many times, going back to Bill Belichick and golden boy Tom Brady (Deflategate)?—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Villegas, a Marine Corps veteran from the Northwest Side who has been 36th Ward alderman since 2015, once had his sights set on Washington but was trounced in the 2022 race for the 3rd Congressional District on the Northwest Side.—
Jake Sheridan,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
-
Peter Magyar’s center-right Tisza trounced Orban’s Fidesz in parliamentary elections by a margin of nearly three-to-one, a stunning turn after so many years of Orban consolidating power with extrajudicial tools like gerrymandering, court-packing and the co-optation of an independent media.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The East’s top seed overcame a 3-1 series deficit and a 24-point road deficit during Game 6 in a memorable series comeback.—
Scott Phillips,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
-
Michael Massey scored on Maikel Garcia's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals overcame a dominant 14-strikeout performance from Seattle starter Emerson Hancock to beat the Mariners 3-2 on Saturday night.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Skunked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skunked. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
