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

Relevance

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 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 For months, many at City Hall had expected Raman to make a stink if she was yanked from her post, transforming herself into a martyr. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026 As blood poured from Salgado’s body, other men swarmed the van, and Victor was yanked outside. — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026 The jury was whittled down significantly after days of questioning over 100 Clark County residents who’d been yanked from their daily lives and summoned to a Las Vegas courtroom. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 13 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. — Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026 This bestselling line of classic creepy characters is yanked straight from your best memories of Halloween as a child. — Kelsey Legg, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026 Karol then appeared to try deescalating the abrupt encounter, but she was yanked by the fan again before security escorted him from the stage. — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 July 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

Reyes allegedly grabbed her by the hair and started to punch her multiple times.

— CBS News, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Soon after, the Macklowe Gallery owners sold that place and grabbed a rental across from Lincoln Center, spending their time traveling, working, and enjoying a wonderfully free, untethered life.

— Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of grabbed

Verb

Across six Premier League seasons in the 1990s, Newcastle pried 12 different players from poorer sides, more than anyone else in that period.

— Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Security video of the early April 9 morning burglary shows three men entered the business through a broken window, smashed the machines with sledge hammers and pried out the boxes while a fourth man acted as lookout, the report said.

— Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of pried

Verb

In the fifth, Bregman ripped a sweeper from Jake Bird into the visitors' bullpen in left for a three-run shot to cap the Cubs' four-run inning.

— CBS News, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Winds ripped gutters from cottages where staff members live during the school year and tore the face from a clock tower that has stood at the school since its founding more than a century ago.

— Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 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

Some experts argue for keeping the status quo, saying a ban on selling fossils would mean that important specimens would remain undiscovered or be illegally extracted and sold on the black market.

— Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
After carefully selecting specimens with reliable dates and locations, the team extracted DNA using techniques designed for highly degraded historical samples.

— Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of extracted

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“Yanked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yanked. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of yanked

verb

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