TARGETING Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

targeting

verb

present participle of target

as in harassing

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar 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 targeting Taylor, a fluid 6-foot-5, is already the Jets’ second-best receiver and plays with a quarterback, Justin Fields, who is prone to targeting tight ends — fifth-highest tight end target rate since 2021, and Cole Kmet had a career-high 719 yards with Fields as his quarterback in 2023. — Jacob Robinson, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for targeting

Verb

Paulina asks Nana, harassing her over eating porridge instead of an apple at lunch.

— Kristian Monroe, NPR, 10 Nov. 2026
The post also addresses recent reports about a woman named Szilvia Berki, who in October 2015 is said to have received an injunction from Brand and Goldsmith that banned Berki from harassing them.

— Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2026

Definition of harassing

Verb

The Jets came out energized by the crowd booing and taunting Hellebuyck to express their anger and jumped to a 2-0 lead.

— CBS News, CBS News, 11 Nov. 2026
The taunting two-and-a-half-page ransom note was addressed to JonBenét's father, John Ramsey, and demanded $118,000 for the safe return of his daughter.

— Megan Fahrney, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of taunting

Verb

After several hours of tormenting Machado, Sierra placed his leg on her chest to keep her from moving and wrapped a yellow Sedano’s Supermarket plastic bag over her face.

— Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
This shift from just hating and tormenting Mozart, and expanding that rage against God and his own mediocrity is what makes this play so profound and distinctive.

— Doni Wilson, Houston Chronicle, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of tormenting

Verb

But Jabareen added that the Joint List would demand the government stop race-baiting and demonizing the country’s Arab population.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
The Islamophobic baiting scams identified by researchers operate in the overlapping spheres of right-wing politics, cryptocurrency and conspiratorial belief.

— Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of baiting

Verb

The Department of Justice’s prosecution of a Saudi national for allegedly bugging an OpenAI conference room is causing anxiety among OpenAI employees, many of whom are foreign nationals.

— Benjamin Guggenheim, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
On Monday, a court granted the US government’s request to deny release of a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging a top-secret conference room to steal the frontier lab’s secrets.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of bugging

Browse Nearby Words

targeted

targeting

targets

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Targeting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/targeting. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of targeting

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

lissome

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes