targeted

verb

past tense of target
as in harassed

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for targeted
  1. harassed
  2. taunted
  3. tormented
  4. pestered
  5. ragged
  6. baited
  7. bugged
  8. teased
Verb
  • In 2023, two adults harassed a 9-year-old child at an elementary school track meet.
    — Megan Gandy, The Conversation, 1 July 2026
  • The operation, ProPublica found, ensnared innocent residents of the majority-Black city who said they were targeted and harassed because of their race.
    — Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
Definition of harassed
Verb
  • The actor taunted his kids over their expectations of the couples.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 9 July 2026
  • In the Chicago area, officials said three men captured a victim and shot him multiple times in the head and allegedly taunted his mother.
    — Luke Barr, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of taunted
Verb
  • Their absence clearly tormented him, but his total dependence on Sara seemed to embarrass him, too.
    — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • The three-paragraph note compared Lyons to a Nazi and predicted that Lyons would be tormented by his own conscience.
    — Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 6 July 2026
Definition of tormented
Verb
  • Scheierman also hit two earlier threes, grabbed five rebounds and pestered Gilgeous-Alexander to force a third-quarter turnover to help Boston take down the defending NBA champions 119-109.
    — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
  • My own parents met coming out of a movie theater in New Britain when my less than suave Coast Guard father pestered my mother for a date.
    — Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 11 Feb. 2026
Definition of pestered
Verb
  • On that night in March, to the surprise of nobody, Arsenal ran their mid-table Premier League hosts ragged, beating them 5-1, with Henry and Freddie Ljungberg scoring twice, and Kolo Toure netting the other.
    — Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Definition of ragged
Verb
  • The federal agency detailed removal efforts on its website, including traps baited with eggs and trackers to lure tegus and study their movements.
    — Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 July 2026
  • Spurs center Victor Wembanyama baited Towns and Knicks center Mitchell Robinson into fouls.
    — Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Definition of baited
Verb
  • The group alleged that as well as hacking their phones, journalists from the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday tapped landlines and bugged houses and cars.
    — K.J. Yossman, Variety, 7 July 2026
  • When Riley returned to the table, La La told me that his high profile in the city sometimes bugged her, because fans were always interrupting them, even sitting down at their table.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 17 May 2026
Definition of bugged
Verb
  • Bryant Vincent’s team has teased in each of his first two years in Monroe, starting 3-1 last season before the roof caved in with eight straight setbacks.
    — Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • While the flagship movie franchise is coming to an end, Diesel previously teased that NBCUniversal has four TV shows in development from the Fast & Furious world.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 4 July 2026
Definition of teased
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.

Browse Nearby Words

target
targeted
targeting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Targeted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/targeted. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on targeted

Nglish: Translation of targeted for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of bibelot

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All