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

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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

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as in earned

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

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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

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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 The report also stated that Saudi Arabia has ruled out negotiations until the strait has been wrested from Houthi control. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 4 Oct. 2026 Colandrea rushed for a career-best 108 yards and used his legs to convert key third downs as the Huskers wrested control away from the Terps in the second and third quarters. — Mitch Sherman, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Another unidentified witness saw the struggle and wrested the knife from Rivas, according to police. — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2026 In this case, the production company Embassy Pictures wrested control of Crimewave away from Raimi after a challenging shoot, leading the director to disavow the film. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026 And yet, no one has wrested the crown away from the attention king. — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 8 July 2026 Amid the fallout, Honarkar lost possession of most of his properties, including the historic Hotel Laguna, where a public scuffle had broken out in 2023 between his security team and guards working for the partner who wrested control of the landmark. — Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026 That was when microbes wrested energy from light and, in the process, breathed new life into the world. — Quanta Magazine, 10 June 2026 Women are wrested from their seats and don’t return. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrested

Verb

Someone pried open the rear cover to a truck and stole a set of golf clubs for a loss of about $3,000.

— Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2026
But maybe pried his focus and joy and freedom away just a little bit going into the year.

— Will Sammon, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of pried

Verb

Clement later successfully extorted one of Roshanki’s friends for $5,000 in drug proceeds, then insisted that Roshanski owed him money for drugs and fraud.

— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026
The police chief allegedly extorted the victim and the victim’s father in connection with the pending murder case.

— Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

Definition of extorted

Verb

Lawmakers were surprised to learn that nearly 1,700 state employees in all departments were paid more than $50,000 in overtime alone, while nearly 2,600 employees earned more than $40,000 in overtime in addition to their salaries.

— Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026
Their primary race is still regarded as a historic political earthquake, but, in the final tally, Ocasio-Cortez earned fewer than seventeen thousand votes.

— Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of earned

Verb

Shohei Ohtani emerged from the visiting dugout at American Family Field with a bat in his hand, and the mass of media members scattered in foul territory up the third-base line shifted his way, pulled by the magnetic force that is Ohtani’s stardom.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
On Wednesday, the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republicans' super PAC, effectively dropped its push to boost Tijerina and pulled millions of dollars in ads from the district, a person familiar with the decision confirmed.

— Justin Papp, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of pulled

Verb

Ignoring that rule could get flood insurance coverage yanked for an entire community.

— Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026
Wi-Fi is not free on those services; T-Mobile used to comp at least an hour of connectivity for subscribers, but quietly yanked that benefit in April.

— Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of yanked

Verb

In Malabo, Bioko’s biggest city, a team of men and women equipped with insecticide sprayers squeezed between low-rise cement buildings on a recent morning, as heavy rain drummed on aluminum roofs.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
Elevated borrowing rates and refinancing challenges (registration required) have squeezed an already difficult landscape for development financing.

— Jill Jones, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

The bit caught a pipe strap and wrenched him off a ladder, tearing off his thumb and mangling his hand.

— Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, after passengers stormed the cockpit and wrenched back controlfrom the attacker, who Israeli officials suspect was trying to crash the plane.

— Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of wrenched

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wrest

wrested

wresting

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“Wrested.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrested. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of wrested

verb

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