TOOK ON Synonyms: 104 Similar and Opposite Words

took on

verb

past tense of take on

as in faced

to enter into contest or conflict with will take on his chief opponent in the next political debate

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in employed

to provide with a paying job decided to take her on as store manager

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in borrowed

to take for one's own use (something originated by another) recently arrived immigrants who are eager to take on the language and culture of their adopted homeland

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 took on As Kierny admonished both sides to follow the court’s rules, Davis took on prosecutor Michael DiGiacomo directly. — Andy Rose, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2026 The Mothers of East Los Angeles — the legendary women’s group that took on Eastside politicos in the 1980s and 1990s — was born in Resurrection’s pews. — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026 In making the deals, the Twins uncharacteristically took on payroll, paying the entirety of the roughly $5 million combined owed to Minter and Kremer. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026 Yungblud easily took on the song’s euphoric verses as Corgan accompanied on guitar, both clad in all-black, from the four-time-platinum LP. — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2026 Jefferson took on the role of writing the first draft of the declaration. — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2026 Ament didn’t quite reach his offensive potential at Tennessee, but this is not dissimilar to the gamble the Bucks once took on a young Antetokounmpo. — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 24 June 2026 Influencer Gabriela Moura made her World Cup debut on Saturday as her home country of Brazil took on Morocco. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026 The grand property later took on a radically different role as the state-of-the-art St George's Hospital, rebuilt in 1825 by architect William Wilkins, the mind behind London’s National Gallery. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for took on

Verb

Lionel Messi returned to Subaru Park Wednesday night, drawing fans from across the region as Inter Miami CF faced the Philadelphia Union.

— Eva Andersen, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
According to some reports, travelers have faced long lines and even missed connecting flights as airports deal with growing pains during the transition to biometric kiosks.

— Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of faced

Verb

Housing wealth is a large part of that disconnect as decades of appreciation left many older homeowners sitting on valuable properties without the home equity itself materializing as income, unless it’s sold or borrowed against.

— Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 21 Aug. 2026
Abdeen guessed that they were drawn to the familiar symbols that the Masons borrowed from what the French had dubbed the Orient, such as the tarboosh, a brimless and tasselled hat.

— Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of borrowed

Verb

As the court met Monday on Yabloko’s appeal, the party’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse and Russian media reported that several dozen people were detained.

— CNN Money, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026
Collins tried earlier this summer to get Fishback booted from the ballot, alleging Fishback had not met the state's seven-year minimum residency requirement.

— Caroline Linton, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of met

Verb

Since that moment, local officials have adopted a number of changes including a new fare enforcement program to improve security and a new fare policy to streamline the ticketing process.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 22 Aug. 2026
Because it is intended to work with existing production processes, the technology could potentially be adopted without requiring an entirely new battery manufacturing ecosystem.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of adopted

Verb

The crew made sure the water level wasn’t high enough to slosh around the inside of the aircraft, in case the plane encountered turbulence.

— Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Reporters encountered zero officers during a two-and-a-half hour ride through uptown and South End last Saturday.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of encountered

Verb

At a science standards adoption in Texas in 2021, an oil and gas industry group recruited volunteers to participate in the process.

— Jessica Meszaros, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026
Tottenham have recruited six players, all of whom played in the Premier League last season.

— Adam Crafton, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026