TANKING Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

tanking

verb

present participle of tank

as in flopping

to be unsuccessful her intended comeback movie tanked at the box office, and once again she was relegated to TV guest spots

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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 tanking A lot of teams at the bottom might be tanking for Arch Manning, and there is no real new blood at quarterback this season. — Vic Tafur, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 During the 1996–97 season, for example, the Boston Celtics went 15–67 and effectively admitted to tanking for the right to draft Tim Duncan. — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2026 Data centers are becoming the political flash point of the midterms as candidates race to respond to tanking public opinion. — Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 However, some traders appeared unconvinced by the company’s plans, with its stock tanking almost 10% in trading on Monday, its steepest single-day drop in more than a year. — Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 24 Aug. 2026 Smoke from these blazes is also tanking air quality in parts of the Northwest. — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026 The Athletics have just two more wins than the Angels and are also tanking. — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2026 And that’s good, because there is zero indication the new leadership will be tanking, and good reason to think the Dolphins may be ‘over’ the betting over/under of 4 1/2 victories. — Greg Cote july 27, Miami Herald, 27 July 2026 But everything changed after a 1954 Life Magazine article, which argued that literacy rates were tanking because children were bored with Dick and Jane primers. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 11 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tanking

Verb

The fish looks straight at me, flopping sluggishly from side to side.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
Nobody likes to see their sunflowers flopping over—and according to Nancy Awot-Traut, a horticulture specialist at Burpee, there can be several reasons why this happens.

— Lauren Wellbank, Martha Stewart, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of flopping

Verb

Portland took an early lead, but the Pride showed fight and kept it close before collapsing in the last 20 minutes.

— Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Sep. 2026
This halts the nuclear fusion process — which involves converting that hydrogen to helium — leading to the stars collapsing and shedding their outer layers to become a white dwarf with around the mass of the sun crammed into the width of Earth.

— Robert Lea, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of collapsing

Verb

The episode marked the latest instance of Congress trying and failing to advance AI legislation amid a growing debate over whether, if at all, to regulate the technology that industry leaders warn may pose doomsday threats to humanity.

— Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 16 Sep. 2026
Charlie Kirk's family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative activist's assassination at a state university, in a wrongful death notice announced Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.

— CBS News, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of failing

Verb

If Curry Village is on your Yosemite itinerary — for the canvas tent cabins, the shower house after a long day on the trail or a base camp for Half Dome — there’s a piece of health news worth folding into your trip planning.

— The Sacramento Bee staff, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Caroline Scheufele, Chopard’s artistic director and copresident, stayed near the step-and-repeat, gamely posing for photos with guests and frequently folding her hands into a heart shape while doing so.

— Leigh Nordstrom, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of folding

Verb

The play becomes an intellectual exercise — often a technically compelling one, and one that thankfully observes the comedy of Chekhov’s struggling souls as much as their tragedy.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
But Trumpism is also what Gramsci called a morbid symptom of the interregnum, an expression of a country riven by political polarization and by economic inequity, and struggling to come to terms with the waning of its singular status.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of struggling

Verb

On Friday, state media said authorities in Hanoi found the body of a university student who had been missing since Thursday.

— Aniruddha Ghosal, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Poole allegedly did not provide documentation to account for the missing cash, and investigators could not find records that showed the cash was ever collected by Brink’s or deposited directly into the school bank account.

— Angie DiMichele, Sun Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of missing

Verb

Interviewees describe hacking little girls’ phones to see when their fathers came home and then bombing their houses, listening while the people on the line screamed and pleaded for help, while mothers cried over their burning daughters.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
In 1991, during the Gulf War, America and its allies began bombing Baghdad in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

— David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of bombing

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tankers

tanking

tanks

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“Tanking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tanking. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of tanking

verb

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