1
as in boiling
to cook in a liquid heated to the point that it gives off steam
stew the chicken till tender, and then remove the meat from the bones
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in worrying
to experience concern or anxiety
stop stewing over that game and just try to do better next time
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fretting
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stewing
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Komljen creates an ostensible utopia for those ostracised from urban spaces, with days now spent stewing apricots, weaving baskets, kissing rocks, and conversing with mushrooms.
—Sonya Vseliubska, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The habit of staying up at night and replaying all the embarrassing moments of your life while stewing in self-blame isn’t just a personality quirk.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Komljen creates an ostensible utopia for those ostracised from urban spaces, with days now spent stewing apricots, weaving baskets, kissing rocks, and conversing with mushrooms.
—Sonya Vseliubska, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stewing
Verb
-
Gently add the eggs to the rapidly boiling water.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The Watt steam engine once turned boiling water heat into motion.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Patients often wait until the doctor is standing up to leave before blurting out their real concern, which is typically a sensitive or time-consuming problem, such as wanting to start birth control, having painful periods, or worrying about pregnancy or STDs.—
Dr. Jill Grimes,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
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Losing or leaving a job is already stressful enough without worrying about when your last paycheck will show up.—
Tiffani Jackson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The vast majority of those applications came from nationals of Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, countries beset by long-simmering conflict.—
Sebastian Shukla,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
-
According to the synopsis, their odyssey takes them from the quiet Masai villages of Kenya to the dangerous, simmering streets of Casablanca in Morocco.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Portraying the ghost of Hamlet’s father at the play’s debut, his face and body covered in chalky white paint, his Shakespeare steps through the looking glass and becomes his own tragic player, strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
8 Sep. 2025
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Down the road elsewhere in Newark, Mitch Gambert, CEO and owner of Gambert Shirtmakers, is fretting over the future of his business due to the upheaval caused by the administration’s ever-evolving trade policy.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Investors are fretful heading into the August payrolls report.—
Sarah Min,
CNBC,
3 Sep. 2025
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Despite the fretful retreat staged by most House Democrats, preliminary polling shows significant public support for Trump’s impeachment.—
Chris Lehmann,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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But the relentless increase in the value of the most expensive art works—frequently engineered by the auction houses themselves—has meant that negotiations with consignors have become only more vexed.—
Sam Knight,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
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But best of all here is the vexed mother/daughter relationship, which can echo Lizzy’s terms with her own mother.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stewing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stewing. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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