WRESTED Synonyms: 80 Similar and Opposite Words

wrested

verb

past tense of wrest

as in pried

to draw out by force or with effort the boy wrested the book out of his sister's hands

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in extorted

to get (as money) by the use of force or threats vowed that the bully had wrested his lunch money from him for the last time

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in earned

to get with great difficulty farmers who were used to wresting a living from the harsh land

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in pulled

to move by or as if by a forceful rotation I need a strong arm to wrest the lid off this pickle jar

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in grabbed

to separate or remove by forceful pulling wrested open the stuck door of the cabinet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

reattached

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 wrested That was when microbes wrested energy from light and, in the process, breathed new life into the world. —

Quanta Magazine, 10 June 2026 Control was wrested back towards the end of the period, a sign of better things to come, even if that profligacy that has dogged them so much reared once again in stoppage time at the end of the half. —

Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 28 May 2026 Because with a dominant 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven playoff series, the Ducks evened the series at a win apiece and wrested home-ice advantage away from the division champions. —

Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026 Women are wrested from their seats and don’t return. —

Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026 OpenAI briefly considered plans to transition into a for-profit company in 2024, which would have wrested control from the nonprofit and kept it as a separate arm. —

Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 24 Apr. 2026 Feinberg had wrested some decision making on shipbuilding away from Phelan, according to two officials familiar with the matter. —

Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 23 Apr. 2026 Democrats wrested control of the Legislature from Republicans in 1954, the year Ariyoshi won the first of two terms in the Territorial House of Representatives. —

ABC News, 20 Apr. 2026 Eventually, David Ellison’s Paramount wrested WBD out of Netflix’s hands. —

Robertas Bakula, Oc Register, 15 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrested

Verb

Or has the gold already been melted down, and the diamonds, rubies and sapphires pried from their settings and sold for the sum of their parts?

— John Miller, CNN Money, 19 Nov. 2025
Malkin pried a few gory details out about the storylines out of LaNasa.

— Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 29 Oct. 2025