as in biting
causing intense discomfort to one's skin
these cold, stinging winds are not just a discomfort—they can be dangerous to exposed flesh
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in gouging
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services
a nightclub that's been stinging patrons for years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plucking
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
swindlers who sting unwary tourists by posing as officials demanding money
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of stinging
Daniel Flatley, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
Terry Smith will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), who began the year with hopes of winning the national title only to have those hopes evaporate by early October with three consecutive losses, each one more stinging than the last.
—Travis Johnson, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
In the end, however, Disney handed a stinging defeat to Peltz.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2025
Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD on YouTube and other social media channels, has already boiled down his thoughts to a stinging verdict.
—Alex Harrington, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
While Bernhardt praises her gifts, the French diva doesn’t hold back in her stinging criticism of the production, calling it the same old prewar Italian theater, out of touch with the times.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
All that and the Lakers – who were left scrambling after the Klaw left them hanging – threw together a squad of role-embracing vets who handled the bubble like pros and won the franchise its 17th title, a swift and stinging rebuttal.
—Mirjam Swanson, Oc Register, 4 Sep. 2025
Redness, stinging, swelling13 7.
—Megan Nunn, Verywell Health, 27 Aug. 2025
They are known to be foraging predators with tentacles that hold highly poisonous stinging cells, used for both hunting and self-defense, explains the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Taryn White, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2025
On the other side, the investigative news site Mediapart, which first broke news of Sarkozy’s Libya link, and other progressive titles delivered stinging editorials on his conduct.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
The production was plagued by hurricanes, tsunami warnings, stinging jellyfish and several injuries — including Costner, who almost died while riding out a storm stranded atop a mast after his safety line had snapped.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
Andreas Helmersen hit the bar while Patrick Berg’s stinging effort was saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
—Jay Harris, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
These pretty pink jellyfish are carnivorous and have stinging tentacles that can reach up to 70 feet long.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025
After the Department of Transportation issued a stinging blow to consumers by rolling back a rule requiring airlines to compensate passengers for delays, the agency has upgraded its airline complaint system.
—AFAR Media, 15 Sep. 2025
Perhaps the loss, coupled with seeing Parsons thrive in Green Bay as the Packers get off to a hot start, is stinging the Cowboys’ top cornerback in Week 1.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a stinging rebuke of the Supreme Court's decision to clear the way to allow sweeping immigration operations in Los Angeles.
—Andrew Stanton
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent oversaw a series of unorthodox steps aimed at stabilizing Argentine assets after the peso had plunged in the wake of Milei’s party suffering a stinging defeat in a key provincial ballot last month.
—Daniel Flatley, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
Terry Smith will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season for the Nittany Lions (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten), who began the year with hopes of winning the national title only to have those hopes evaporate by early October with three consecutive losses, each one more stinging than the last.
—Travis Johnson, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
In the end, however, Disney handed a stinging defeat to Peltz.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2025
Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD on YouTube and other social media channels, has already boiled down his thoughts to a stinging verdict.
—Alex Harrington, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
While Bernhardt praises her gifts, the French diva doesn’t hold back in her stinging criticism of the production, calling it the same old prewar Italian theater, out of touch with the times.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
All that and the Lakers – who were left scrambling after the Klaw left them hanging – threw together a squad of role-embracing vets who handled the bubble like pros and won the franchise its 17th title, a swift and stinging rebuttal.
—Mirjam Swanson, Oc Register, 4 Sep. 2025
Redness, stinging, swelling13 7.
—Megan Nunn, Verywell Health, 27 Aug. 2025
They are known to be foraging predators with tentacles that hold highly poisonous stinging cells, used for both hunting and self-defense, explains the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
Seawater keeps the jellyfish’s stinging capsules inert.
—Taryn White, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2025
On the other side, the investigative news site Mediapart, which first broke news of Sarkozy’s Libya link, and other progressive titles delivered stinging editorials on his conduct.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2025
The production was plagued by hurricanes, tsunami warnings, stinging jellyfish and several injuries — including Costner, who almost died while riding out a storm stranded atop a mast after his safety line had snapped.
—Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
Andreas Helmersen hit the bar while Patrick Berg’s stinging effort was saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
—Jay Harris, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
These pretty pink jellyfish are carnivorous and have stinging tentacles that can reach up to 70 feet long.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025
After the Department of Transportation issued a stinging blow to consumers by rolling back a rule requiring airlines to compensate passengers for delays, the agency has upgraded its airline complaint system.
—AFAR Media, 15 Sep. 2025
Perhaps the loss, coupled with seeing Parsons thrive in Green Bay as the Packers get off to a hot start, is stinging the Cowboys’ top cornerback in Week 1.
—Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered a stinging rebuke of the Supreme Court's decision to clear the way to allow sweeping immigration operations in Los Angeles.
—Andrew Stanton
hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stinging
Adjective
-
But usually the administration official doesn’t fight back in such a biting way.—
David Lightman,
Sacbee.com,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Over nearly three decades, Baumbach has built a career chronicling families in crisis and artists at the crossroads, his films combining biting wit with an unflinching emotional honesty.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
At least the climactic pandemonium has some of that old REC intensity; Plaza dynamically orchestrates the violence, dazzling the eyes of his audience one minute, gouging the eyes of his characters the next.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
-
There’s no question Newsom — who had spent months excoriating refiners for gouging consumers on gasoline prices, even calling a special legislative session to impose new regulations — changed his tune after two refineries announced plans to shut down.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In his new memoir The Uncool, which hits bookshelves today, the rock journalist and director behind films such as Almost Famous and Elizabethtown recalls his experience calling up Grant and Ball as a teenager after plucking their numbers from his friend and fellow journalist's address book.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Oct. 2025
-
When not plucking away at a keyboard, Madison teaches yoga and mountain bikes with her two Australian shepherds, Cholla and Poppy, through Missoula's Rattlesnake Wilderness.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Remove a thin piece of peel from a lemon (for rye) or orange (for bourbon), getting as little of the bitter white pith as possible; hold the peel between your fingers with the outside facing the top of the drink and pinch slightly to express the citrus oils over the top.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Washington State is back on home soil for the first time in more than a month, having been on the road since suffering a heavy defeat to bitter rival Washington in the Apple Cup back in September.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The documents included disciplinary information and reportedly showed that Sherrill was barred from walking at her 1994 graduation after refusing to inform on classmates involved in a cheating scandal.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
-
In backrooms, there was none of the surveillance tech that reputable casinos use to catch players cheating.—
Rob Wile,
NBC news,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Down 38-14 early in the fourth quarter, Texas staged one of the college football season’s more improbable rallies Saturday, scoring 31 unanswered points and squeezing past Mississippi State 45-38 in overtime.—
Rowan Fisher-Shotton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic’s steep terrain will force air upward, wringing out more moisture from the storm, just like squeezing a wet sponge, turning tropical humidity into torrents racing downhill.—
Chris Dolce,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In general, acting quickly is key since the pain can be sharp and overwhelming within the first few seconds.—
Taryn White,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The negligible homicide case is seen through the strongest of microscopes, bringing flashbacks of the backstory into sharp focus as questions about faith and the human psyche soon arise.—
Michael Lee Simpson,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Nicholas trips over a bramble, falls to his hands and knees in the soaking grass.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Water the bare-root plant when the roots or stems appear shriveled by soaking the root ball in water for an hour.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stinging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stinging. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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