TARGETING Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

targeting

verb

present participle of target

as in harassing

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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 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

However, Fox’s family didn’t feel satisfied with the way that FedEx handled Fox’s complaints to HR about her colleagues harassing her and filed a lawsuit against the company.

— Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2026
As the divide between union members and Medieval Times loyalists deepened, anonymous troll accounts surfaced and began posting content harassing those on the picket line.

— Alessandra Schade, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of harassing

Verb

At the trial, Hreljanovic’s lawyers sought to introduce the videos of DeFalco taunting their client — but the judge didn’t allow it.

— Gene Maddaus, Variety, 3 Nov. 2026
Yet there Culkin is, taunting the District tributes and putting on a show for the Capitol elites in the trailers for the upcoming film.

— Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 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

In Pakistan, Choudhary told me, the workforce of the author-baiting scams is largely made up of high-school and university graduates.

— Snigdha Poonam, The Dial, 13 Oct. 2026
But someone needs to jar Bell's memory and adjust his grasp of facts to get him off this race-baiting narrative.

— Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 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

Verb

In September, while teasing what would become vSphere Express, Paul Turner, VCF’s chief product officer, told The Register that Broadcom issued sales incentives that pushed its sales team to sell VCF.

— Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 4 Nov. 2026
The Grammy winner also teamed up with her friends for a Hairspray group costume, teasing her hair and donning a 1960s-esque dress in a recreation of Amanda Bynes’ character Penny in the 2007 film adaptation of the musical of the same name.

— Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of teasing

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targeted

targeting

targets

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“Targeting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/targeting. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of targeting

verb

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