distancing

verb

present participle of distance
1
as in retreating

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words
2
as in discarding

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for distancing
  1. retreating
  2. discarding
  3. receding
  4. flinging
  5. dispelling
  6. dumping
  7. ditching
  8. shedding
Verb
  • Many have reacted by retreating, focusing on cultivating niche audiences.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Longtime collaborator Erik Blood foregrounds Butler’s dry drum machines in the mix, letting every other element shuffle around them, snaking toward the spotlight for a brief moment and retreating back into the brume.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of retreating
Verb
  • Still, discarding more than one fourth of a Tarantino script feels like a pretty bold move.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The vehicle sheds these boosters during ascent before discarding its protective payload fairings.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of discarding
Verb
  • Neeley said the floodwaters were receding but left mud and silt, much of which has been contaminated with sewage because of failures at waste plants.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • In the Farmington area of New Mexico, local officials said that swollen rivers were receding but that many people remained evacuated and hundreds were without power.
    — Anna Wilder, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of receding
Verb
  • What’s more, even as they are defined by death, bogs are also springboards for unusual and unlikely life-forms that extend our understanding of biology—from acid-flinging mosses to amphibian-eating plants.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The first one came on a chaotic sequence in front of the net, with center Carey Terrance inadvertently flinging the puck at his own net.
    — Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of flinging
Verb
  • The administrative notices were sent out just a couple of weeks after the inauguration and included the team in charge of dispelling disinformation.
    — Andy Mannix, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The first is a warm wind that blows out of neighboring De Beque Canyon in springtime, dispelling frosts that could damage delicate blossoms.
    — Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of dispelling
Verb
  • However, throwing it back over the fence could create another dispute, particularly if doing so amounts to dumping debris on your neighbor’s property.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Analysts are perking up about CoreWeave, even though investors are dumping shares and interest rates are rising in the economy.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of dumping
Verb
  • Jane Bargmann, global managing partner of private equity, industrial and life sciences at H&S noted a growing trend of leaders ditching their day jobs for a full-time board career.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • By ditching expensive cobalt and nickel for cheap, abundant iron, automakers lower costs while creating a battery that is safer and less prone to fire.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of ditching
Verb
  • Chris Pratt is shedding light on the reality of raising four kids in Hollywood while keeping his Christian faith present in their lives.
    — Janelle Ash , Larry Fink, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Living room furniture does not stand a chance against a shedding dog, a muddy paw or a cat with strong opinions about upholstery.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of shedding
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.

Browse Nearby Words

distances
distancing
distant
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Distancing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distancing. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All