1
as in victim
a person or thing that is the object of abuse, criticism, or ridicule
the hapless vice president quickly became the favorite target of late-night comedians
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in joke
a person or thing that is made fun of
a badly made TV commercial that became the target of lots of jokes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in goal
something that one hopes or intends to accomplish
our target is to raise $100,000 for a new playground by August
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to taunt
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of target
Michael Bloom, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2026
During his speech Friday, Parlow highlighted the strength of the school’s various fundraising efforts, including the newest Inspire Campaign, which has raised $480 million in the past three years — just $20 million shy of an ambitious target of $500 million by 2028.
—Claire Wang, Oc Register, 28 Feb. 2026
Cate Charron, IndyStar, 22 Feb. 2026
Islamabad, at the time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant hideouts.
—Munir Ahmed, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for target
Noun
Morgan Stanley recently raised Cummins’ price target to $675 per share from $600 and said the stock remains a top pick.
—Michael Bloom, CNBC, 28 Feb. 2026
During his speech Friday, Parlow highlighted the strength of the school’s various fundraising efforts, including the newest Inspire Campaign, which has raised $480 million in the past three years — just $20 million shy of an ambitious target of $500 million by 2028.
—Claire Wang, Oc Register, 28 Feb. 2026
Verb
More than ever, professors don't want to go on the record in fear that the state or their university would target them, potentially through this law.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 22 Feb. 2026
Islamabad, at the time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant hideouts.
—Munir Ahmed, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for target
Recent Examples of Synonyms for target
Noun
-
Rescuers continued to search for victims on the third day since the catastrophe began late Monday, causing floods, landslides, collapsed houses and shuttered schools.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Children ages 3 and younger were most often the victims of fatal child abuse in Illinois between 2015 and 2022, according to a sobering new report out of Northwestern University.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The result is chaos, and a few too many jokes about young people not knowing how to work a fax machine or manage paper.—
Culture Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The meta joke is that Radcliffe was a pioneer of acting opposite tennis balls.—
Eliana Dockterman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That’s not a clear goal either.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Trump has embraced unilateral uses of force — including the once-taboo targeting of heads of state, a Harvard professor noted — to achieve his foreign policy goals.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The new Ghostface killers use deepfake videos to taunt Neve Campbell's Sidney Evans (formerly Prescott), using faces from her traumatic past.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
27 Feb. 2026
-
That chant is often used to taunt security forces and plainclothes agents like the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard who maintain a presence on university campuses through student groups.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Every few seconds, the wolf almost imperceptibly shifts its head, as if scanning the horizon for predators or prey.—
Rob Stein,
NPR,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Ultimately, many of these books’ characters are portrayed as avatars of resentment and disaffection, men who seem to fall prey to the rigid vision of masculinity dispensed by real-life adherents to the manosphere.—
Eric Magnuson,
The Atlantic,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Don't let the simple name of this recipe fool you—this casserole is surprisingly complex.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
3 Mar. 2026
-
My group Unleash Prosperity warned repeatedly during the Biden years that the auto industry was sowing the seeds of its own destruction by getting hooked on the fool’s profits of taxpayer handouts for EVs.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The combination has been proposed before with the aim of consolidating news-gathering costs.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
-
These are mature musicians, their primary aim is to enrich themselves, the audience and not simply inflate their bank accounts.—
Rick Kogan,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The internet trolls livestream videos of themselves appearing to harass everyday New Yorkers and often finding themselves being thrown out of apartment buildings, bodegas and other establishments.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
1 Mar. 2026
-
The defendants did not know who Huitzilin was, or have any intention of identifying his home address or harassing him.—
James Queally,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Target.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/target. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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