NEEDLED Synonyms: 113 Similar and Opposite Words

needled

verb

past tense of needle

as in taunted

to attack repeatedly with mean put-downs or insults we needled him mercilessly for thinking that he had any chance of being the prom date for the school's most popular girl

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in urged

to subject (someone) to constant scoldings and sharp reminders quit needling me! I'll take out the trash in a minute!

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 needled At a Sunday rally in Georgia, Ossoff needled Trump for accepting a new Air Force One plane from the autocratic monarchy of Qatar and for reportedly hiding in a catering truck to switch to a different plane in Turkey last month. — Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026 Drummer Jay Russell kept to stark rattles, Sam Shipstone patched in his scratchy electric guitar, and Ryan Needham needled through grumbling basslines. — Victoria Borlando, Pitchfork, 24 July 2026 By contrast, Trump is being needled almost weekly by Tillis and other GOP senators whose chattiness with the press has drawn the ire of the president. — David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 31 May 2026 Yang was critical of TKO’s handling of the Las Vegas event, which took place last week at Allegiant Stadium for the second straight year and needled the company over the recent wave of WWE departures. — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2026 Johnson could have needled Woods about their windy Sunday stroll at Augusta in ’07, when Johnson trailed Stuart Appleby by two strokes, and Woods by one, heading into the last round in which Johnson’s 69 produced another slice of history. — Jay Paris, Oc Register, 26 Mar. 2026 But there are other factors that needled their way into the evolutionary development of dormancy characteristics. — Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 9 Jan. 2026 Thanks to him and his colleagues Lucas Atia and Janet Teng, there’s a much faster, simpler treatment without an IV bag and an hour of getting needled, and a far more accessible treatment for people for whom simply getting to the hospital might be a major hassle or even an impossibility. — New Atlas, 30 Dec. 2025 The Ukrainian leader also wore more formal attire, something that did not go unnoticed by pro-Trump reporter Brian Glenn, who in February needled Zelensky for his lack of a suit. — Brett Samuels, The Hill, 18 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for needled

Verb

The rivalry between the two stars dates back to the 2023 NCAA women’s national championship game, when Reese's LSU Tigers defeated Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes and Reese famously, and without class, taunted Clark in the closing moments.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2026
The older Green Lantern taunted the alien so much, that the creature detonated itself, blowing a hole into the side of the jail.

— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of taunted

Verb

The alert urged residents in the affected area to leave immediately and travel east on FM 2210.

— Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact Independence police at 816-325-7330 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.

— Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of urged

Verb

West first teased the album in March 2020, initially targeting a summer release, just as the COVID-19 pandemic upended the music industry and the rhythms of live performance.

— Desjah Altvater, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Meet Lucia and Jason We've been teased for over a year now that our main duo, Lucia and Jason, are criminals, with Lucia recently being an inmate at the Leonida Penitentiary.

— Meredith G. White, AZCentral.com, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of teased

Verb

Barney & Friends, the enormously popular and widely mocked PBS series about a singing, dancing purple dinosaur, is the obvious touchstone for the children’s-show-as-hellscape in the new movie Buddy.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
Trump has all but severed America’s system of alliances, mocked and bullied Ukraine’s president, and showered praise upon Kim Jong Un.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of mocked

Verb

Down a third of its crew (and periodically appearing as a trio), the quartet-for-now seeks modern girl-group chart history while nagged by uncertainty and controversy that extends to their music.

— Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2026
And that was probably one of the things that nagged at him along that trip.

— Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of nagged

Browse Nearby Words

needle

needled

needlelike

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

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

Copy Citation

Synonyms of needled

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

conscientious

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