SOPHISTICATING Synonyms: 96 Similar and Opposite Words

sophisticating

verb

present participle of sophisticate

as in complicating

to make complex or difficult there's no need to sophisticate something that is beautiful in its simplicity

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in diluting

to alter (something) for the worse with the addition of foreign or lower-grade substances vanilla extract that has been sophisticated with corn syrup

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 sophisticating Logistically accelerating techno-economic interactivity crumbles social order in auto-sophisticating machine runaway. — James Duesterberg, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sophisticating

Verb

The federal government has transferred many detainees to some of the nation’s largest detention facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi, complicating their legal representation and crowding the dockets in those states.

— Carla Astudillo, ProPublica, 3 Sep. 2026
The remote ranch’s hallmark isolation is now complicating recovery efforts.

— Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of complicating

Verb

Making Shakespeare’s plays accessible is a noble goal, but there are other ways to go about this beyond modernizing the text and diluting its lyrical beauty and nuance.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Some of the old guard accused Kılıçdaroğlu of diluting the party’s values.

— Nick TaborAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of diluting

Verb

The intensifying trade war between the two neighbors is unfolding just two months before the US midterm elections, putting Republicans in competitive races in the position of explaining their views on tariffs imposed by the president.

— Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026
Post-9/11 security and immigration policies reshaped everyday life, intensifying surveillance and suspicion for Muslim, Middle Eastern and Sikh Americans while embedding agencies like TSA, ICE and Homeland Security into the national landscape.

— Deepti Hajela, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of intensifying

Verb

Trading firms began using low-latency (shorter delay) technology and co-locating servers inside exchange data centers, cutting trade execution times to milliseconds and making speed itself a competitive advantage.

— Brian Lund, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2026
Jet fuel costs have skyrocketed, too, leading airlines to hike airfare and baggage fees while cutting less profitable flights.

— Matt Egan, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of cutting

Verb

Such plans are contrary to Indonesia’s promises to cut its use of coal, the most heavily polluting major fossil fuel and a significant source of planet-warming emissions.

— ABC News, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026
Environmental groups advocated for SB 954 over concerns that the CEQA exemption could allow heavily polluting facilities to bypass environmental review.

— Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of polluting

Verb

The splash screen that appears when loading up Orbitals, showing Shapefarm and publisher Kepler Interactive’s logos, is soaked in retro-futuristic bright neon like Apple’s back in the 80s.

— George Yang, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026
The roofline is flatter, the rear compartment is more accommodating, and loading bulky stuff is easier.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of loading

Verb

Last Wednesday, Meta reached a settlement with the attorneys general of forty-seven states, who had sued it for illegally manipulating the attention of children.

— Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
The experiment, therefore, suggests that empty space itself could become a new tool for manipulating quantum matter, much like other efforts to push the limits of superconducting materials.

— Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of manipulating

Verb

In Vermont, federal researchers are hoping to save American elm trees by infecting young saplings with the fungal disease that has nearly exterminated the tall, once prevalent, East Coast trees.

— Susanne Rust Follow, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026
On the screen, the room glimpsed stitches from the emergency operations, the mold and pus infecting him, the brutal anti-glamour of a homicide victim.

— Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of infecting

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sophisticates

sophisticating

sophistication

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“Sophisticating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sophisticating. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of sophisticating

verb

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