as in prone
having a tendency to be or act in a certain way
people tending toward daily exercise will significantly reduce their risk of cardiac arrest
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in leaning
to show a liking or proneness (for something)
her wardrobe tends toward dark colors and heavy fabrics
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in supervising
to take charge of especially on behalf of another
tend the store while I run an errand
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in growing
to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care
lately I haven't been doing a good job of tending my garden
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in cultivating
to work by plowing, sowing, and raising crops on
plots that during the war were tended by city dwellers as vegetable gardens
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4
as in managing
to look after and make decisions about
the dying patriarch wondered who would tend the family business after he was gone
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tending
Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
Francoise is tending to her little monster son.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
Sometimes they’re found in a three-year-old’s muddy hands beside yours, in the peace of tending less but tending it well, and in the recognition that abundance doesn’t always mean more.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
While their moms were tending to patients, the two friends walked through the hallways, played games and watched movies in the hospital's lounges and open areas to kill the time.
—David Chiu, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Wearing multiple hats every day can be exhausting, especially when it’s layered with the challenge of tending to personal needs, nurturing dreams, and healing old wounds.
—Dontaira Terrell, Refinery29, 27 Aug. 2025
The most vulnerable — starving children, people afflicted with leprosy, and pregnant women without the remotest possibility of healthcare — always needed tending to; that colonial reality was intact.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
An irony of sorts is that the AI tending to be somewhat more truthful has a few bad sides to it.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Broadcasters are tending to only commission cheaper shows in bulk or premium series that require specialist expertise.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
Jong-Fast shoulders the duties of caring for her mother and her ailing stepfather—or of guiltily hiring others to do so—while also tending to her husband, who has been diagnosed with cancer.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025
Francoise is tending to her little monster son.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
Sometimes they’re found in a three-year-old’s muddy hands beside yours, in the peace of tending less but tending it well, and in the recognition that abundance doesn’t always mean more.
—The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
While their moms were tending to patients, the two friends walked through the hallways, played games and watched movies in the hospital's lounges and open areas to kill the time.
—David Chiu, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Wearing multiple hats every day can be exhausting, especially when it’s layered with the challenge of tending to personal needs, nurturing dreams, and healing old wounds.
—Dontaira Terrell, Refinery29, 27 Aug. 2025
The most vulnerable — starving children, people afflicted with leprosy, and pregnant women without the remotest possibility of healthcare — always needed tending to; that colonial reality was intact.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 27 Aug. 2025
An irony of sorts is that the AI tending to be somewhat more truthful has a few bad sides to it.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Broadcasters are tending to only commission cheaper shows in bulk or premium series that require specialist expertise.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tending
Adjective
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Certain seed varieties are formulated to be less prone to splitting, including Stonehead, Savoy Ace, and Caraflex.—
Amy Brightfield,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Sep. 2025
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Over 20 years, Belichick disciples became prone to treating players as disposable assets instead of human beings they are supposed to both employ and empower.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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As a result, even conservative sectors once eager to play Washington’s tune are now more inclined to support the Brazilian government’s strategy of diversifying economic partnerships and reducing dependence on the United States.—
HUSSEIN KALOUT,
Foreign Affairs,
2 Sep. 2025
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Because Iraq’s al-Sistani would not militarize his followers, Iran went mullah shopping and found another more inclined to do so.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tending. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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