BUCKING Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

bucking

verb

present participle of buck

as in yanking

to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion the car bucked and stalled

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in resisting

to refuse to give in to bucked the trend to outdo everyone else and just wore the same clothes they had in previous years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in handing

to shift possession of (something) from one person to another buck each box to the next person in line, and the last person will stack them in the storeroom

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 bucking However, voters across parties have been bucking the political class by voting for anti-establishment candidates this election cycle. — Saige Miller, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026 But now, in the middle of a rainstorm, their carriage has stopped and started, bucking and weaving beneath them. — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026 Costco shares are up over 1% Tuesday, bucking the broader market declines. — Kevin Stankiewicz,jeff Marks, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026 Gorbachev, still consolidating power, was taking a risk by bucking anti-American hawks back in Moscow and standing with Reagan to join him in officially ruling out nuclear war as a rational instrument of policy. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026 Still, he’s viewed as a politically formidable force who has a good chance of bucking the political odds. — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026 Few places have had more success bucking those trends than Somerville. — Cameron Pugh, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2026 Causes linked to possible frailty are bucking the trend, though, with death rates from malnutrition up more than 50% from 2019. — Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 9 Aug. 2026 The Senate just went out with a bang ‒ passing a government funding bill to try to avert another shutdown, confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general and bucking a voter ID measure. — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 8 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bucking

Verb

The episode feinted toward genuine rapprochement before yanking the rug out, leaving the Gang pelted with an industrial-grade indoor blizzard and then happily chucking rocks at passing trains, as was Mac and Charlie’s childhood tradition.

— Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 July 2026
The tentacular Scylla is seen briefly but makes an impact, yanking sailors off Odysseus’s ship in a series of loud jump scares.

— Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 July 2026

Definition of yanking

Verb

During the arrest, Guerrero-Chavez began resisting, even slipping out of her handcuffs and attempting to run back to her vehicle, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said.

— Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 27 Aug. 2026
Wiener has long championed making housing easier to build, but in San Francisco resisting development is a bedrock cause for those on the city’s left.

— Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of resisting

Verb

That scoreboard is now misleading, because the same AI wave letting those companies shed jobs is handing thousands of capable people the time and the reason to build something of their own.

— Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
After missing the playoffs in 2025, Martin started off on a great note, handing a solid Mansfield program a 38-35 loss.

— Charles Baggarly August 29, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of handing

Verb

Picture Angel Reese grabbing a rebound and passing to Caitlin Clark, who then fires down the floor to Paige Bueckers, who drives to the goal and fools the help defender with a dish to the best player on the planet.

— Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
At their best, the offense was a sheer powerhouse—Dak Prescott threw for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns, ranking among the league's top passing leaders while feeding a dominant receiving corps.

— David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of passing

Verb

Why TikTok livestream selling can drive big sales Three forces are pulling sellers toward livestream commerce, and Duplantis’s numbers reflect all of them.

— Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 30 Aug. 2026
Wildfire risk is pushing insurers to underwrite hotels based on physical resilience rather than location alone, and carriers are pulling back from some markets entirely.

— Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of pulling

Verb

The United States, which had been lurching toward entry in the Second World War, was suddenly and inescapably thrust into global conflict.

— Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Republicans see Democrats lurching to the left and embracing socialism as an opening to link their opponents to the far more radical communism.

— Garrett Downs, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of lurching

Browse Nearby Words

buckets

bucking

bucking up

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Bucking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bucking. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of bucking

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

dissonant

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Popular in Wordplay

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes