as in defeat
failure to win a contest
took a serious trouncing during the first game but came back to win the next two
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in whipping
to defeat by a large margin
our candidate trounced her opponent in the election, winning with 76% of the vote
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of trouncing
Charlie Campbell, Time, 25 May 2026
Two and a half hours after Palisades’ girls team captured its fourth straight City Section lacrosse championship with a 20-8 trouncing of Birmingham, Palisades boys saw their streak of nine consecutive titles snapped in a 5-4 loss to the same school.
—Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
Moments before the ball was tipped ahead of the Phoenix Suns’ Game 1 trouncing, Dillon Brooks ran his fingers over the grooves of the game ball the way starters tend to.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026
Last year’s trophy was won by Paris Saint Germain following its 5-0 trouncing of Inter Milan.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 26 Mar. 2026
Kings organist Dieter Ruehle was feeling a bit cheeky during Thursday’s 8-1 trouncing by the Edmonton Oilers.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 27 Feb. 2026
That blend of players yielded the team’s first playoff victory, a trouncing of the Minnesota Vikings in the wake of a turbulent week of wildfires in Los Angeles.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 9 Jan. 2026
Creative tension with old-school Republicans in the first term and then genuine fears about his own reelection following the trouncing the GOP got in 2018 produced a far more popular version of Trumpism than the current undiluted dose.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 12 Dec. 2025
Muller’s team has won seven of those encounters, including the 2014 World Cup Final and an 8-2 trouncing of Barcelona that was the club’s worst loss in more than half a century.
—Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 5 Dec. 2025
Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Expectations for fourth-quarter profit range from 65 cents to 79 cents per share, trouncing Wall Street's call for 55 cents a share, per LSEG.
—Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 6 May 2026
Now, the Hawks’ trouncing the Knicks in this category may be a tinge inflated, if only because of matchups.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Aledo stacks another win Aledo won its 11th consecutive game Friday, trouncing Saginaw 15-0 in shutout fashion.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2026
The endorsements came after first quarter fundraising numbers show Goldman trouncing challenger Brad Lander in cash on hand, raking in more than twice as much money.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2026
Carlsbad continued to play like an Open Division quality team on Wednesday night, trouncing host La Jolla Country Day 16-3 to improve to 6-3 on the young season.
—Clark Fahrenthold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That advice ended up coinciding with a 44% surge in clean energy stocks in 2025, trouncing the 16% gain in the S&P 500 Index.
—Alastair Marsh, Bloomberg, 8 Mar. 2026
Boise went into halftime trouncing the hosts in second-chance points (13-2) and on the boards (21-11).
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2026
Noun
Spurrier, who predominantly sold French vintages, wasn’t expecting anything other than a trouncing for the parvenu.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 25 May 2026
Two and a half hours after Palisades’ girls team captured its fourth straight City Section lacrosse championship with a 20-8 trouncing of Birmingham, Palisades boys saw their streak of nine consecutive titles snapped in a 5-4 loss to the same school.
—Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
Moments before the ball was tipped ahead of the Phoenix Suns’ Game 1 trouncing, Dillon Brooks ran his fingers over the grooves of the game ball the way starters tend to.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026
Last year’s trophy was won by Paris Saint Germain following its 5-0 trouncing of Inter Milan.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 26 Mar. 2026
Kings organist Dieter Ruehle was feeling a bit cheeky during Thursday’s 8-1 trouncing by the Edmonton Oilers.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 27 Feb. 2026
That blend of players yielded the team’s first playoff victory, a trouncing of the Minnesota Vikings in the wake of a turbulent week of wildfires in Los Angeles.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 9 Jan. 2026
Creative tension with old-school Republicans in the first term and then genuine fears about his own reelection following the trouncing the GOP got in 2018 produced a far more popular version of Trumpism than the current undiluted dose.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 12 Dec. 2025
Muller’s team has won seven of those encounters, including the 2014 World Cup Final and an 8-2 trouncing of Barcelona that was the club’s worst loss in more than half a century.
—Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 5 Dec. 2025
Verb
From there, top seed Hien Truong took over, trouncing Nguyen in the semis and Hatakeyama in the finals to claim his 5th medal and 2nd PPA international gold since September.
—Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Expectations for fourth-quarter profit range from 65 cents to 79 cents per share, trouncing Wall Street's call for 55 cents a share, per LSEG.
—Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 6 May 2026
Now, the Hawks’ trouncing the Knicks in this category may be a tinge inflated, if only because of matchups.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Aledo stacks another win Aledo won its 11th consecutive game Friday, trouncing Saginaw 15-0 in shutout fashion.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Apr. 2026
The endorsements came after first quarter fundraising numbers show Goldman trouncing challenger Brad Lander in cash on hand, raking in more than twice as much money.
—Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2026
Carlsbad continued to play like an Open Division quality team on Wednesday night, trouncing host La Jolla Country Day 16-3 to improve to 6-3 on the young season.
—Clark Fahrenthold, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2026
That advice ended up coinciding with a 44% surge in clean energy stocks in 2025, trouncing the 16% gain in the S&P 500 Index.
—Alastair Marsh, Bloomberg, 8 Mar. 2026
Boise went into halftime trouncing the hosts in second-chance points (13-2) and on the boards (21-11).
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 8 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trouncing
Noun
-
The Highlanders, who suffered a 7-5 defeat at the hands of Fontana Kaiser on Wednesday in the CIF Southern California Division 3 Regional semifinals, graduate just four seniors.—
John Maffei,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 June 2026
-
Nungurey saw a team defense that connected at crucial moments and managed to stave off defeat for one more inning and force extra innings against junior Redwood pitching ace Jackie Ramirez in the first round of the CIF SoCal Regional Division II playoffs Wednesday.—
Ethan Hanson,
Daily News,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
Throughout the record, the image of Petras’ life in freefall recurs, giving the record a sense of hair-whipping freedom and heart-stopping urgency.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
2 June 2026
-
In baseball news, Screencaps the III got his very first legitimate hit of the season by lacing one over the second baseman's head last night with winds whipping 20-25 mph off Lake Erie.—
Joe Kinsey OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
Noun
-
Activists accused Israeli forces of mistreatment in detention, describing beatings, tasers and attack dogs.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
-
Between crowded commutes, blinding screens, and the endless tap-tap-tapping on smartphone glass, our senses are constantly taking a beating.—
Juhi Wadia,
PC Magazine,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
One lawmaker Lackey’s unofficial bill title wasn’t lost upon was Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Jefferson Park, a lawmaker who has spoken publicly about overcoming systemic barriers in his own life as a Black man and has centered his political career largely on criminal justice reform.—
Andrew Graham
May 28,
Sacbee.com,
28 May 2026
-
That’s because the Phillies (29-27) stand as a serious threat in the wild-card races, and overcoming the Dodgers in the West race just isn’t realistic.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 May 2026
Noun
-
In that loss, USC stranded 13 runners, struck out 12 times and left men in scoring position in each of the first seven innings.—
Jose de Jesus Ortiz,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
-
The Trojans followed that with three consecutive singles to load the bases and chase Ciscar, who pitched two-plus innings of relief after logging just two outs as Miami’s starter in Saturday’s blowout loss to Florida.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
Pineda’s arrest also caused recurring nightmares that leave him shouting and thrashing around in bed.—
Andrea Castillo,
Los Angeles Times,
26 May 2026
-
A lot of the ideas are sent through the internet rather than the days of a band thrashing it out in the room together.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
24 May 2026
Verb
-
The utility's Storm Secure Underground Program, launched after Hurricane Irma in 2017, focuses on making the power grid more resilient by burying power lines underground and reinforcing critical overhead infrastructure.—
Shane Hinton,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
-
For weeks, strikes by the United States and Israel restricted Iran’s access to its underground missile sites by destroying roads and burying tunnel entrances.—
Tamara Qiblawi,
CNN Money,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
On Monday, the Israeli military resumed bombing Hezbollah in Lebanon as peace talks for the Iran war continue.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
26 May 2026
-
Al Thawadi was in the Oval Office in September last year to watch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu place a call to Qatar’s prime minister to apologize for bombing Doha.—
Dominic Dudley,
semafor.com,
25 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trouncing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trouncing. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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