helping 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of helpingnext
1
as in aiding

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in assisting

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

helping

2 of 2

verb

present participle of help
1
as in supporting
to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end offered to help her widowed father when he moved into an apartment

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in alleviating
to make more bearable or less severe the new ointment didn't help Josh's sunburn one bit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in preventing
to keep from happening by taking action in advance they couldn't help the way things turned out

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in benefiting
to provide with something useful or desirable being independently wealthy certainly helped him during his years as a struggling young artist

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in improving
to make better some minor revisions would help this essay immensely

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 helping
Adjective
And right now, the Eric Dane story isn’t much helping. — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
Their first seven runs came off the lefty’s heater, helping the Cubs build a 9-0 advantage through four innings. — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026 Here’s a look at how policy changes and protocol changes in high school football are helping make the sport safer. — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Six months later, two Boy Scouts from Gilbert and a man helping chaperone them drowned in a rain-swollen wash near Sunflower on March 28, 1998. — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026 Mike Moore, the former Mississippi attorney general who took on Big Tobacco, is now helping state AGs craft a potential master settlement with social media companies. — Alex Harring, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026 Police said information received from the community played an important role in helping investigators locate Ruff. — Luke Matheson Pine Bluff Commercial, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026 The fewer than 200 attendees at last week’s semi-secret session in the museum’s intimate Clive Davis Theater had done a good job of helping keep the nature of the performance under wraps until now. — Chris Willman, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026 As part of the effort, the Treasury Department designated nearly 60 individuals, entities, and vessels accused of helping Iran evade previously existing sanctions. — Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 24 Aug. 2026 An Orange County sheriff’s deputy was flagged down, called Fullerton police and was helping the victim when police officers arrived, Wells said. — Nathaniel Percy, Oc Register, 24 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helping
  1. supportive
  2. assisting
  3. alleviating
  4. preventing
  5. benefiting
  6. improving
  7. assistant
  8. aiding
Adjective
  • Flat oil prices and slightly lower bond yields were certainly supportive of the tech rally.
    — Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Across all categories, the beds deserve special mention—exceptionally comfortable, with soft bedding and supportive pillows that punch well above the price point.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of supportive
Verb
  • However, cooler heads prevailed, with respectful interactions afterward, and Khabib Nurmagomedov even assisting Song.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • While Taunton was assisting, another vehicle hydroplaned toward them and Taunton pushed a person at the scene out of the way.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of assisting
Verb
  • Europe’s efforts are for now too modest, too regulated, too fragmented, and too focused on alleviating government restrictions rather than promoting commercial use to fundamentally change dependencies that have accumulated over decades.
    — Kurt M. Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In 2021, in hopes of alleviating economic pressures during the pandemic, Congress passed legislation eliminating premiums for people with the lowest incomes and reduced the cost for people with higher incomes.
    — Robert Applebaum, The Conversation, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of alleviating
Verb
  • The ability to monitor and identify unwanted behavior by AI agents in real-time or near real-time is critical to preventing another breach like this—perhaps one with even more serious consequences, such as an attack on a bank or hospital.
    — Emily Forlini, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Leaving the coil uninsulated allows heat and excess current to bypass hot spots, preventing damage and keeping the system stable.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of preventing
Verb
  • The higher standards down the pecking order can help keep the brightest talent in the game for longer, with the next generation benefitting from that wisdom.
    — Katie Whyatt, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • That is how a working household starts benefiting from compounding.
    — Michael Faulkender, Baltimore Sun, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of benefiting
Verb
  • Pawloski said Amazon seemed to invest fewer resources into improving MTurk at the same time as more data labeling services arrived, causing many turkers to shift to competing platforms.
    — Annie Palmer, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The broader shift is that AI content quality is improving while the barrier to creation is becoming lower.
    — Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of improving
Adjective
  • This position — especially once assistant head coach Frank Smith arrived — requires immense mental aptitude.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Teron is the assistant director at the Alliance for Positive Change Keith Haring Harlem Center.
    — Joel Teron, New York Daily News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of assistant
Verb
  • In response, Parkwood and the superstar encouraged those seeking to support relief efforts to donate to Food For The Poor and World Central Kitchen, both actively aiding affected communities.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 26 Aug. 2026
  • That could include sanctions against entities in India, Malaysia or other countries if they’re found to be aiding Iran.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of aiding

Phrases Containing helping

Browse Nearby Words

helpfully
helping
helping hand
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Helping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helping. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

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
See More

Popular

See More

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
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All