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
NPR, 15 Oct. 2025
Transform your bathroom into a mini spa with the best Prime Day beauty devices, designed to target everything from stubborn hair, dull skin, barrier health, and more.
—Jenny Berg, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
Smith-Njigba has become the favorite target of Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold in his first year with the team and looks to be among the league’s best at his position.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for target
Noun
Developing drugs that target bacteria in novel ways can help humans get ahead of resistance, but WHO says the global pipeline of new treatments isn't flowing fast enough to meet the need.
—NPR, 15 Oct. 2025
Transform your bathroom into a mini spa with the best Prime Day beauty devices, designed to target everything from stubborn hair, dull skin, barrier health, and more.
—Jenny Berg, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
Verb
Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan boosted his stock price target on WBD from $18 to $25 following Tuesday’s announcement.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
Smith-Njigba has become the favorite target of Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold in his first year with the team and looks to be among the league’s best at his position.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for target
Recent Examples of Synonyms for target
Noun
-
Remoteness draws the witness — or victim — forward and into the circle of the predator’s personality.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
-
And at its climax, the Grabber, the franchise killer played by Ethan Hawke, gracefully stalks his victims on ice skates, ready to lop some heads with an axe.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts got in on the joke after his team captured the National League pennant for the fifth time in the past nine years.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Students embraced the joke, and before long, every game began with hundreds of tortillas soaring into the night sky as the whistle blew for kickoff.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Officials at the Water Reclamation Authority are pursuing new goals after the utility was officially released last year from a pair of longstanding legal agreements that required the utility to address sewer overflows, leading to major investments across the system.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Oct. 2025
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Before the judges revealed their scores, Leavitt told cohost Julianne Hough that her sole goal in week 6 was to redeem her week 5 stumble during a soulful contemporary routine dedicated to her husband.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In 2023, the mother of two was enlisted by investigators to determine whether the man who once terrorized Wichita, Kansas, and taunted police during a 17-year murder spree might be linked to other unsolved killings.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
19 Oct. 2025
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However, the league seemingly deemed his actions not punishment-worthy, saving Mahomes from an $11,593 first-offense taunting penalty.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Rhincodon typus, to use their scientific name, eat their ample fill by ram filter-feeding, vacuuming up gallons of water to strain out small prey before the water exits their gills.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
24 Oct. 2025
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When focusing on the vipers’ fangs, the team watched their needle-like teeth sink into the fake prey.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That’s been fool’s gold many times before.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Oct. 2025
-
These features glitter like fool’s gold.—
Nadav Ziv,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The aim is to drill the first well slowly, entering five different geologic zones and testing for oil and gas in each of them.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
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The following month, Lana Del Rey posted a song snippet taking aim at Cain.—
Jessica Lynch,
Billboard,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Bonaparte used the tools of government to harass Jacobins and curb dissent—a disaster for civil society.—
Time,
Time,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Google’s powerful and freely available AI models have helped fuel the rise of AI content, some of which is aimed at spreading misinformation and harassing individuals.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
21 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Target.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/target. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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