Synonyms of struggling

struggling 1 of 2

adjective

as in failing

Related Words

• failing
• dying
• declining
• languishing
• floundering
• unsuccessful
• bankrupt
• depressed
• insolvent
• unprosperous
• bankrupted

Dissimilar Words

• successful
• healthy
• thriving
• booming
• flourishing
• prosperous
• golden
• roaring
• wealthy
• substantial
• affluent
• rich
• lush
• prospering
• palmy
• halcyon
• moneyed
• well-to-do
• comfortable
• opulent
• boomy
• well-off
• well-heeled

struggling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of struggle

1

as in stumbling

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually

each week I would struggle through my piano lesson, keenly aware that I wasn't getting any better

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stumbling
• floundering
• shuffling
• trudging
• limping
• blundering
• fumbling
• lurching
• bumbling
• plodding
• faltering
• swaying
• lumbering
• reeling
• jogging
• flogging
• shambling
• staggering
• tottering
• wallowing
• muddling
• teetering
• weltering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flying
• coasting
• sailing
• gliding
• zooming
• zipping
• kilting

2

as in striving

to devote serious and sustained effort

the financially strapped couple struggled to make ends meet

Synonyms & Similar Words

• striving
• laboring
• working
• trying
• endeavoring
• toiling
• tugging
• sweating
• hustling
• plowing
• straining
• slaving
• digging (away)
• grubbing
• banging away
• humping
• slogging
• plodding
• pegging (away)
• plugging
• drudging
• travailing
• fagging
• moiling
• applying (oneself)
• sweating blood
• attacking
• beavering (away)
• buckling (down)
• hammering (away)
• exerting
• scratching
• driving
• pitching in
• exercising
• digging in
• essaying
• scrabbling
• wading
• overworking
• grinding (out)
• eking out
• trudging
• knuckling down
• overexerting
• putting out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breaking
• slackening
• easing (up)
• hanging (around or out)
• idling
• letting up
• lounging
• resting
• bumming
• chilling
• shirking
• loafing
• relaxing
• slacking (off)
• playing
• unwinding
• hanging
• goofing (off)
• hacking (around)
• lazing
• basking
• dallying
• lolling
• reposing
• dabbling
• goldbricking
• fooling around
• dillydallying
• trifling
• messing around
• vegging out
• footling
• doodling
• hanging about
• goofing (around)
• puttering (around)
• monkeying (around)
• pottering (around)
• fribbling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of struggling

Adjective

Although dozens of campuses across the district have had new principals every couple years, Licata and his staff believe this new round of hires at many of the district’s most struggling schools will be the start of major stability. — Samuel O’Neal June 11, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 June 2026

Their goal is to release them back into the wild to help restore struggling populations. — Alex Lehnert, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026

Verb

Americans who are already struggling to pay their bills are about to face more financial headwinds as new tariffs take effect and the ongoing Iran war pushes gas prices up. — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 25 July 2026

The bear was panting and struggling with the placement of its paws and legs on the pole — which was carrying 7,200-volt wires at 22 feet high. — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 25 July 2026

Logan Webb’s bid for his first win in nearly a month vanished in the late chaos, as struggling San Francisco and Anaheim clubs now turn to Robbie Ray and Ryan Johnson. — Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026

At 19, Danitra Grays was grappling with postpartum depression, caring for her newborn daughter, Naiyla, and struggling with anxious thoughts that weighed heavily on her mind. — Miami Herald, 24 July 2026

But Perel believes that many people are struggling to cope with that precarity. — Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026

The Alpine driver was struggling for grip at the final corners, something that plenty of his rivals also encountered. — Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 24 July 2026

Her family has been struggling after her husband lost his job as a motorcycle rider and crossed the border into neighboring Niger to look for work. — ABC News, 19 July 2026

But he was lifted in the fourth inning, forcing Kotsay toward the team’s struggling bullpen earlier than expected. — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 18 July 2026