skunking

verb

present participle of skunk
1
as in overcoming
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 defeating
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 cheating
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for skunking
  1. overcoming
  2. defeating
  3. cheating
  4. whipping
  5. mastering
  6. stinging
  7. bombing
  8. beating
Verb
  • Curaçao went unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament before overcoming an early two-run deficit to the team from Henderson, Nevada.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Instead of focusing on adventurous missions like PAW Patrol, Super Monsters emphasizes the more emotional aspects of childhood, like overcoming shyness, being a good friend, and learning from your mistakes.
    — Kara Nesvig, Parents, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of overcoming
Verb
  • DeSoto won the Class 6A Division II state championship last season, defeating Southlake Carroll in the state semifinals.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Boise State started the season 1-1, losing 42-21 to Central Michigan before defeating Portland State 33-22 in a pair of nonconference games.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of defeating
Verb
  • Written and rendered by dudes who longed for unlimited success, these are songs about cheating and being cheated on and trying but failing to be content, or love as lived amid capitalist indulgence.
    — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 30 Aug. 2026
  • In this case, the reward was solving the ExploitGym questions and the hacking was literally hacking—cheating on the test and then hacking into Hugging Face in an effort to cover up the cheating (more on that below).
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheating
Verb
  • Two months later, the couple went Instagram official, as the SKIMS founder was featured in a video which showed the F1 driver whipping around in his Ferrari F40 at the Daikoku Parking Area in Tokyo, Japan.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Mercedes removed Willow’s cat, but Willow answered by whipping Mercedes with the AEW Women’s World Championship belt.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of whipping
Verb
  • Knowing how to apply lipstick is one of those essential beauty skills worth mastering, alongside nailing how to apply cream blush and perfecting your base.
    — Emma-Jade Stoddart, Glamour, 4 Sep. 2026
  • But for a novice, relying on AI before mastering the fundamentals creates a technical debt that leads to a lack of depth.
    — Jason Corso, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of mastering
Verb
  • Mas launched his own stinging move around the same place that Omrzel attacked.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The bugs, particularly ticks, ants, mosquitoes and stinging insects, are going to take full advantage thanks to warmer temperatures, according to the National Pest Management Associations (NPMA)'s biannual Bug Barometer®.
    — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of stinging
Verb
  • The status of its nuclear program, degraded by bombing strikes in 2025, hasn't changed.
    — Susan Page, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Prabowo vowed the government would continue supporting firefighting operations, including through the deployment of additional water-bombing helicopters and oxygen supplies for firefighters.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of bombing
Verb
  • As the graphic below shows, Fernandez-Pardo is comfortable running in-behind down the channels and sending in crosses, as well as beating his defender and cutting balls back for team-mates.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Dell Technologies — Shares of the computer maker jumped almost 9% after beating expectations on both lines.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of beating
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

skunked
skunking
skunks
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Cite this Entry

“Skunking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skunking. Accessed 8 Sep. 2026.

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