YANKED Synonyms: 60 Similar and Opposite Words

yanked

verb

past tense of yank

as in jerked

to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion she stupidly yanked the wheel while I was driving

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in pulled

to draw out by force or with effort yanked out a tooth with a pair of pliers

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in grabbed

to separate or remove by forceful pulling grab the other one, and let's see if we can't yank these two grocery carriages apart

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 yanked Hours later, as the couple sat in a car outside a west Fort Worth bowling alley, an unknown man yanked open the passenger door. — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Sep. 2026 In one clip, a pair of people sit in a small box attached to a wire as they're yanked onto a platform across a river in Nuwakot, Nepal. — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026 Olstead yanked the handle to release his parachute and watched the red-white-and-blue fabric unfurl. — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026 In his view, a prosperous society was teetering on the edge of a meaningful shift toward communitarianism before being yanked back. — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026 The officer is also seen putting a woman in a patrol car, the same woman who is shown on the ground having her hair yanked by an officer. — Briauna Brown, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026 In Berkeley, where California clay culture yanked ceramics out of the category of polite craft and into something huge, physical, ugly, and beautiful, Heilmann learned to weld. — Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 18 Aug. 2026 Lucas Erceg was picked to close but was yanked for Steven Cruz after loading the bases with no outs in 14 pitches. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 18 Aug. 2026 Lanni grabbed my arm and yanked me down the five flights of stairs. — Literary Hub, 17 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for yanked

Verb

But in 1933, within a matter of days, they were jerked back into reality.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 20 June 2026

Definition of jerked

Verb

But Joshi says mental health care is often treated as an afterthought in disaster situations, and resources can get pulled before people have fully made sense of the trauma.

— Jonathan Lambert, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
Cheers erupted as video on Friday showed the first man – 30-year-old mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah – being pulled from the tunnel.

— Sana Noor Haq, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of pulled

Verb

Oliver grabbed a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to seven in just four games after four against Leeds United the previous week.

— Rob Tanner, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
At 4 o’clock on a Thursday morning, Salomon Olea grabbed a packed lunch of a ham-and- cheese torta and a white peach, kissed his wife goodbye and left the home in Escondido he’s owned for nearly 30 years.

— Audrey McGlinchy, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of grabbed

Verb

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
The latest was on Sunday, when interior doors of the restaurant were forced and pried open and $1,300 was stolen, all while a cleaning crew was inside.

— Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of pried

Verb

In fact, Israel built its future wagering that the Palestinians violently displaced and expelled in the Nakba would eventually move on, assimilate, forget the depravity that ripped them from their land.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
Actor Michael Rapaport ripped Macklemore as a talentless clown following the rapper’s pro-Palestinian set at MetLife Stadium.

— Staff, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of ripped

Verb

Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites.

— Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 May 2026
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 May 2026

Definition of twitched

Verb

Days before the hawker crackdown, Ruto ordered India’s Tata Chemicals to leave Kenya, arguing that the company had extracted value from the country without creating enough local investment or jobs.

— Vivianne Wandera, semafor.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Sea salt, meanwhile, refers to salt extracted from ocean water or lakes.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of extracted

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“Yanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanked. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of yanked

verb

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