1
as in gouged
to charge (someone) too much for goods or services
a nightclub that's been stinging patrons for years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cheated
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
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 stung
The loss certainly stung for Maye.
—
Greg Dudek, Hartford Courant, 9 Feb. 2026
One pocket of tech that has faced a lot of pressure have been software firms, with the shares of companies like SAP, Salesforce, and ServiceNow all stung the last six months, as Reuters reports, because of rising fears that AI could disrupt their business models.
—John Kell, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
The ending of this game stung for the Sabres.
—Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
For Avila, who helps lead a federation of Zacatecan migrant groups that over decades has raised tens of millions of dollars for public work projects back home, the whole thing stung of betrayal.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Grejo sank scowling back into his chair as though stung by Adi’s answer.
—Jonathan Miles, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
His sarcasm stung almost daily, but the winning followed weekly.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
If someone gets stung, they're advised to notify a lifeguard and immerse the area in hot water to reduce pain.
—Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
Trump’s words will have stung for two reasons.
—Luke McGee, Time, 10 Dec. 2025
Greg Dudek, Hartford Courant, 9 Feb. 2026
One pocket of tech that has faced a lot of pressure have been software firms, with the shares of companies like SAP, Salesforce, and ServiceNow all stung the last six months, as Reuters reports, because of rising fears that AI could disrupt their business models.
—John Kell, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
The ending of this game stung for the Sabres.
—Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
For Avila, who helps lead a federation of Zacatecan migrant groups that over decades has raised tens of millions of dollars for public work projects back home, the whole thing stung of betrayal.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Grejo sank scowling back into his chair as though stung by Adi’s answer.
—Jonathan Miles, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
His sarcasm stung almost daily, but the winning followed weekly.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
If someone gets stung, they're advised to notify a lifeguard and immerse the area in hot water to reduce pain.
—Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 19 Jan. 2026
Trump’s words will have stung for two reasons.
—Luke McGee, Time, 10 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stung
Verb
-
Scheffler pushed his drive into the right fairway bunker on the par-4, could only advance the ball 54 yards into the left rough and gouged his third shot short of the green.—
John Marshall,
Baltimore Sun,
5 Feb. 2026
-
After getting gouged repeatedly by bootleg play-action passes, screens and space plays over their first two series, the Pats struck back with a short-yardage stop and forced fumble on the next two series.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Experts say such scam operations in Cambodia and elsewhere have cheated people around the world out of billions of dollars and tricked people from many countries to work in them under slave-like conditions.—
Sakchai Lalit,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Those very few still alive believe to this day that they are being cheated out of Social Security benefits.—
Tom Margenau,
Dallas Morning News,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
As the continents sheared and twisted unevenly, local forces squeezed together thin ribbons of crust and popped them up like geological meerkats, isolating and slicing them off.—
Evan Howell,
Scientific American,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Walmart had become the poster child of the big bad corporation that underpaid its workers, squeezed its suppliers and tore at the fabric of small-town America.—
Evan Clark,
Footwear News,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The lawsuit alleges diabetic Iowans have been overcharged millions of dollars a year and cut off from affordable insulin.—
Kyle Werner,
Des Moines Register,
30 Jan. 2026
-
After the Boynton Beach location changed hands in 2021, the new owners discovered that insurance companies had been billed and over 80 patients had been charged for work that was not performed or overcharged, according to the affidavit, many of them 65 or older.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Mornings begin at your own pace with homemade granola and shakshuka before heartier lunches and dinners of chicken tagine, lamb kebabs and roasted eggplant with colourful zesty salads mostly plucked from the on-site vegetable garden.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
-
There’s also Liège waffles ($10), plucked from the Good Neighbor dessert menu, and playful milkshakes ($10) and smoothies ($11) that can be made boozy for an additional $6.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Which is why, in an America torn apart by gaping ideological, racial and wealth divides, the proud puertorriqueño Grammy winner nailed it today by transforming the cavernous concrete Santa Clara stadium into a sweat soaked San Juan nightclub for 13 hip-shaking minutes.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
8 Feb. 2026
-
People sat on curbs, alleyway after alleyway, their meager belongings soaked by the previous night’s hard rain.—
Andrew R. Chow,
Time,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
His attacker, the man in black, was hustled off the stage.—
Anderson Cooper,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
-
As the lights came up, Taylor had already been hustled out, as had Arnaud.—
Eve Batey,
Vanity Fair,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Between mortgage rates stuck for most of the year well above 6%, insurance costs that shocked homeowners, and the rapid development of AI tools that can value your property in seconds, the housing market has been anything but predictable.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Feb. 2026
-
When the novel opens in Florence, in 1557, the body of the painter Jacopo da Pontormo lies in the chapel of San Lorenzo—in front of the frescoes he’d labored over for a decade, with a painter’s chisel stuck in his heart.—
Bekah Waalkes,
The Atlantic,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stung.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stung. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
