Synonyms of tugging

tugging

verb

present participle of tug

1

as in pulling

to cause to follow by applying steady force on

tugged on the door until it opened

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulling
• hauling
• dragging
• towing
• lugging
• drawing
• carrying
• attracting
• yanking
• heaving
• haling
• jerking
• moving
• transporting
• conveying
• ferrying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pushing
• driving
• propelling
• shoving
• thrusting

2

as in laboring

to devote serious and sustained effort

she's tugged all her life to get to where she is now in the business world

Synonyms & Similar Words

• laboring
• struggling
• striving
• working
• trying
• endeavoring
• sweating
• plowing
• humping
• toiling
• straining
• grubbing
• plugging
• digging (away)
• hustling
• slaving
• plodding
• slogging
• drudging
• pegging (away)
• travailing
• banging away
• moiling
• fagging
• exerting
• scratching
• applying (oneself)
• attacking
• sweating blood
• beavering (away)
• buckling (down)
• driving
• hammering (away)
• exercising
• digging in
• wading
• pitching in
• scrabbling
• trudging
• grinding (out)
• overworking
• essaying
• eking out
• overexerting
• knuckling down
• putting out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• breaking
• slackening
• easing (up)
• idling
• lounging
• hanging (around or out)
• shirking
• resting
• chilling
• letting up
• bumming
• loafing
• dallying
• lazing
• unwinding
• hanging
• relaxing
• hacking (around)
• playing
• goofing (off)
• slacking (off)
• lolling
• reposing
• basking
• dabbling
• goldbricking
• trifling
• dillydallying
• footling
• doodling
• fooling around
• messing around
• vegging out
• puttering (around)
• goofing (around)
• monkeying (around)
• pottering (around)
• hanging about
• fribbling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tugging

Prying policy specifics from a political candidate often is like tugging a bone from a bulldog. — George F. Will, Washington Post, 17 July 2026

Jude, meanwhile, was shifting from tossing cones to tugging at his ears, afflicted with the same malady that had landed several of the toddlers on the room’s version of the injury list. — ABC News, 30 June 2026

These ergonomic neoprene handle wraps provide additional cushioning around the handles of your carry-on or checked suitcase, a dream for tired, achy hands after a day of tugging luggage. — Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 24 June 2026

But the combatants kept grasping and tugging each other off-balance. — Bob Brody, New York Daily News, 21 June 2026

He is seen in the video grabbing and tugging on her to prevent her from leaving. — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 20 June 2026

Vinicus followed up his stunning early strike with a series of nagging runs, tugging the Panamanians’ back line into awkward shapes. — Jack Lang, New York Times, 1 June 2026

Jupiter's moons are in a chain of orbital resonances that could only have formed by the moons tugging gently on each other in passing over a long period of time, and crater records also suggest that Jupiter's moons are very, very old. — Kiona N. Smith, Space.com, 29 May 2026

But that can’t account for comparable rises in nations that haven’t adopted such policies; average maternal age has also risen in countries around the world without tugging up gestational diabetes in the same way. — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026