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

In The Idol Depp plays Jocelyn, a struggling pop star who becomes entangled with manipulative, sleazy nightclub owner Tedros (Tesfaye). — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026

Licata and Fort Worth ISD’s Board of Managers implemented the Elevate model for the district’s most struggling campuses shortly after they were appointed to their jobs by the Texas Education Agency as part of its takeover of the district. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026

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

Verb

The film followed the trials of a struggling keyboardist who gets hold of a magical synthesizer, only to lose it and embark on a picaresque journey to get it back. — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026

In other words, Yemen and the Houthis may seem like yet another distant problem to Americans, many of whom are understandably fatigued by foreign interventions, and struggling with a spiraling cost of living. — Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026

Small businesses in the already-struggling Wintonbury Mall are mid-way through their second week without power in the latest crisis to hit the half-empty Bloomfield shopping center. — Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 24 Sep. 2026

Marking the feature debut of writer-director Joe Camara, the film follows Luke (Leone), a man struggling with addiction, debt and a life that has steadily unraveled around him. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2026

Everything seems to be going well until a writer (played by Diego Peretti), struggling with creative block, walks into his office. — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026

Meanwhile, Xi is navigating an uneven Chinese economy — one in which its domestic economy is struggling while its high tech exports remain strong. — Aamer Madhani, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026

In the GoFundMe, Hunter’s family said his loss has left them struggling to say goodbye. — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2026

Anthony Kazmierczak, 56, also received three years of supervised release with orders to avoid contact with Omar, after admitting the assault but struggling to explain his motives. — Tim Sullivan, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026