unmanning

verb

present participle of unman
1
as in paralyzing
to deprive of courage or confidence the near crash of the airliner was a completely unmanning experience for the passengers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in discouraging
to lessen the courage or confidence of players who wouldn't let themselves be unmanned by the loss of a single game

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unmanning
  1. paralyzing
  2. discouraging
  3. frightening
  4. frustrating
  5. terrifying
  6. intimidating
  7. scaring
  8. emasculating
Verb
  • The tropical storm hit Japan days after Typhoon Dolphin created havoc in parts of southern Japan, paralyzing traffic and sending hundreds to take shelter.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Gripped by a paralyzing fear for the fate of her future children, Naama returns to the same monument where the infidelity took place; there, her parents appear before her.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of paralyzing
Verb
  • No ground was made up in the quarterback competition, which is discouraging in itself.
    — Zach Berman, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Again, Donato said this additional step was unnecessary and seemed geared toward discouraging users from downloading alternative stores.
    — Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of discouraging
Verb
  • Powell tried to open the stall door, and then began fondling himself, frightening the 11-year-old, who tried to leave, but Powell blocked him from getting out.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 6 June 2026
  • This war has been a disaster for them, frightening away foreign investors, tourists and talent and burdening them with a future of huge new defense bills to deter Iran after the United States is gone.
    — Thomas L. Friedman, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
Definition of frightening
Verb
  • But Algo’s hyper-logical, computerised process of consistently picking the favourites to win was undone in the second match of the day, with Ghana frustrating England in a 0-0 draw.
    — The Athletic Soccer Experts, New York Times, 24 June 2026
  • The documentary’s contradiction is right there, enthralling us with the wild achievements Potter pulled off and frustrating us with his bombast, leading us to ponder whether, as The Dark Wizard suggests, either could exist without the other.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 7 May 2026
Definition of frustrating
Verb
  • Spotify is terrifying much of the podcast industry with a tiny little widget.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • What for decades seemed a hypothetical problem to be solved at some later date is suddenly a concrete, terrifying one for today.
    — Stephen Witt, New Yorker, 30 July 2026
Definition of terrifying
Verb
  • If retirement investing feels intimidating, SoFi Invest strips out a lot of the friction.
    — Andreina Rodriguez, CNBC, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Leadership roles or intimidating pivots that require you to have courage are no exception.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of intimidating
Verb
  • Be a menace to people in the community, driving his boat 70 to 80 miles per hour, driving around scaring the heck out of people, taking people's lives.
    — Lauren Victory, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Notably, the research shows that pumas contribute most to decreased deer-vehicle collisions by scaring their prey, and not killing them, highlights Mark Elbroch, director of the Puma Program for Panthera and also a study co-author.
    — Margherita Bassi, Popular Science, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of scaring
Verb
  • In the political sphere—an arena that’s increasingly entangled with social media—figures such as Elon Musk decry empathy as an emasculating plague.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
  • And yet precisely this dynamic ensures that commitment between men, the kind of domesticity that David and Giovanni attempt to establish in Giovanni’s room, can only ever be emasculating.
    — Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of emasculating
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.

Browse Nearby Words

unmannerly
unmanning
unmans
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Cite this Entry

“Unmanning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unmanning. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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