mugging 1 of 2

noun

as in burglary

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mugging

2 of 2

verb

present participle of mug
1
as in grimacing
to distort one's face every time their picture was snapped, both children mugged by sticking out their tongues or scrunching up their faces

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in photographing
to take a photograph of mugging captured criminals for the police records

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 mugging
Noun
Is a 1-game suspension enough for the mugging? — Zach Dean Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026 While investigating this incident, CPD also learned that a shot was fired during a mugging, also in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 7 June 2026 There’s a whole plotline about Dzanielle’s desire to get a status dog walker named Yuki, who costs $1,500 a week, and another around a Birkin mugging. — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 11 May 2026 An immigrant delivery man bashed unconscious during a botched four-on-one Manhattan mugging died of his injuries months later, cops said Sunday. — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2026 That was the only way to see countries' delegations backflipping and mean-mugging from places like Cortina and Livigno, sort of alternating with the parade in Milan. — Pien Huang, NPR, 6 Feb. 2026 Staged to look like a random mugging of a courier, the robbery was, in fact, a sophisticated heist that would ultimately involve the Provisional IRA, the New York mafia and the Colombian cartel. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2025 The mugging of his early selfies has vanished. — David Kamp, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2025 This lawyer-mugging could go without any response today. — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2025
Verb
Mean-mugging white classmates who, in turn, were sheepish and chastened. — Anne Haley, Time, 11 Aug. 2026 And yet, Simon Farnaby is perhaps most recognizable for mugging his rather expressive and jovial face, usually beneath a crop of untamed curly hair, across a series of scene-stealing comic cameos. — Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026 These are pictures of everyone competing at the tournament, wearing their nation’s kit, usually posing pretty seriously, but occasionally mugging for the camera. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 12 June 2026 Anticipating that someone might tip off TMZ about his presence at Disney World, the Republican Florida senator Rick Scott posted a photo of himself mugging for the camera there. — Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2026 Noem seemed to relish cruelty, and treated her job like a costume party, constantly mugging for cameras with guns and faux toughness as if the dismantling of lives and imprisoning even children was a game. — Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2026 Toddler Adalina India, daughter of second baseman Jonathan India and his wife Daniella, scored a home run in the Cute Kiddie Pics division, mugging like a pro on the field for her mom. — Lisa Gutierrez march 31, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026 Denver’s 33-year-old shooting guard reveled in the moment, mean-mugging his way to the huddle. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 21 Mar. 2026 For most of the show, Bad Bunny had been mugging merrily to the camera, flaring his eyes and making hammy gestures to illustrate his words. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mugging
  1. burglary
  2. grimacing
  3. photographing
  4. break-in
  5. staring
  6. holdup
Noun
  • Lawrence faces multiple charges, including grand theft of motor vehicle parts, burglary conspiracy, grand theft conspiracy, and criminal solicitation.
    — Ana Maria Soler, CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026
  • They were arraigned on felony reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges, according to the Associated Press.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of burglary
Verb
  • Garner started the video with a clip of her drinking leftovers from the drink container and seemingly getting a brain freeze, holding her hand to her forehead and grimacing.
    — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026
  • On Monday’s episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, a grimacing Stewart was flabbergasted at why, exactly, the president elbowed his way into a spotlight clearly not intended for him.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 21 July 2026
Definition of grimacing
Verb
  • Then be sure to read our guide to photographing shooting stars, along with our roundups of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography in 2026.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 24 Aug. 2026
  • His job included photographing whale tails to identify individual animals and monitor their movements.
    — Sarah Kingdom, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of photographing
Noun
  • The break-in that compromised Hugging Face production systems was the last three days of an episode that had been running inside OpenAI's own infrastructure since early May.
    — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • This soft leather pair was comfortable right out of the box and required zero break-in period.
    — Ali Faccenda, InStyle, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of break-in
Verb
  • Finkelstein is also part of another program that will attempt to re-create Hubble and JWST’s famous deep-field images, which revealed millions of previously unseen galaxies by staring at seemingly empty patches of sky.
    — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026
  • When producer Robert Stigwood initially approached him about staring in the Sgt.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of staring
Noun
  • From a creative perspective there hasn't been much holdup on that front, according to another person familiar with the matter.
    — Lillian Rizzo, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The El Niño butterfly effect If there are significant holdups at the canal, vessels will bring their cargo to a US West Coast port and truck it across the country, Yadav said.
    — Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of holdup

Browse Nearby Words

mugginess
mugging
muggings
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Cite this Entry

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

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