forming

verb

present participle of form
1
as in crystallizing
to take on a definite form my ideas on the subject are just starting to form

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in comprising
to be all the substance of this one sentence really forms the basis of your argument

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in producing
to bring into being by combining, shaping, or transforming materials formed the pot out of the clay

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in starting
to come into existence the new company formed from two smaller ones

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in developing
to come to have gradually I don't want you beginning skiers to form any bad habits

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 forming Many have worked and trained alongside each other for years, forming bonds that transcend cultures and languages. — Mery Mogollón, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026 The sun hasn’t risen, and yet a championship atmosphere is already forming. — Jack Leo, AJC.com, 6 July 2026 The sleeveless gown featured a semi-sheer corset bodice with a curtain of lace foliage that cascaded down past the thigh-high slit, forming an elegant silhouette. — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 5 July 2026 Here, Eddé takes stock of Adnan’s background, while calling attention to the forces active in forming what would become her artistic practice. — Literary Hub, 6 July 2026 One dominant idea holds that plate tectonics, much like today’s, was already running in the Hadean, with continental crust forming above subduction zones—areas where tectonic plates collide. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 5 July 2026 In fact, the ratio is typical of that found on the outer edge of planet-forming discs around young stars, implying 3I/ATLAS formed a long way out from its parent star, perhaps in the equivalent of its Kuiper belt. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 6 July 2026 Passionate Mars lights your 11th House of Friends and Community, forming a harmonious trine to transformative Pluto in your 7th House of Partnership. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 5 July 2026 Lingering Southwest wildfire conditions Elsewhere, thunderstorms expected to track along the heat dome’s edges from the Rockies to the northern Plains, with others forming along the Gulf Coast, could bring temporary afternoon relief, AccuWeather said. — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forming
  1. crystallizing
  2. comprising
  3. producing
  4. starting
  5. developing
  6. connecting
  7. composing
  8. making
Verb
  • The lyrics describe a crystallizing moment in which the narrator realizes that her relationship is the thing that’s not working in her life, despite the best hopes and intentions.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 6 June 2026
  • Khosla himself has endorsed the idea of a national wealth fund, and the symmetry between his individual advocacy and OpenAI’s institutional proposal suggests that a policy framework is crystallizing within the AI industry’s upper echelons.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of crystallizing
Verb
  • Children face disproportionately high fatality rates, comprising over 25% of deaths from 15% of cases, and 135 have been orphaned.
    — Maryanne Murray Buechner, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • The United Nations humanitarian affairs agency said Saturday that a total of 44 international urban search and rescue teams, comprising 2,245 specialists and 140 search dogs, had been deployed to Venezuela.
    — Abigail Williams, NBC news, 29 June 2026
Definition of comprising
Verb
  • Are manufacturers producing vehicles that need regular software patches?
    — Charles Singh, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Cape Verde’s Vozinha offered a compelling example, producing an outstanding display against Spain while executing his team’s game plan with composure to help secure a historic progression to the knockout stage.
    — Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of producing
Verb
  • Crunchyroll subscribers can also stream the movie, offered in both Japanese and English dubs, starting the same day.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
  • For the Heat’s Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, ample challenges ahead — starting with an East seedings race unlike any other in recent years.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 4 July 2026
Definition of starting
Verb
  • Proxima is developing stellarator technology, one of a handful of approaches to fusion, and hopes to have its fusion demonstrator — a proof-of-concept precursor to a commercial power plant — up and running in the early 2030s.
    — Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 7 July 2026
  • Genetics also appears to play a significant role, as women who have a close relative with endometriosis face a substantially higher risk of developing the condition themselves.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 7 July 2026
Definition of developing
Verb
  • Organizers also have transformed portions of Figueroa Street into a festival corridor connecting the venues.
    — City News Service, Daily News, 2 July 2026
  • The integrated workflow is intended to reduce the need for separate software tools by connecting chip design with evaluation board development in one process.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 2 July 2026
Definition of connecting
Verb
  • The production was built entirely with AI tools, with Madhvani writing the multilingual lyrics alongside co-creators and composing the music through Suno, a leading AI music generation platform.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 July 2026
  • Legend has it that when an unsuspecting new man on the paper’s composing desk left out the agate type one day there were lots of problems for bettors and bookies across the city.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 29 June 2026
Definition of composing
Verb
  • But making their wishes known ahead of time is key to maintaining independence even as life situations change, said Kweli Rashied-Henry, interim director of Fulton County Senior Services.
    — Rachel Brown Kirkland, AJC.com, 2 July 2026
  • In fact, a single cup of pomegranate arils contains about 7 grams of fiber, making the fruit beneficial for digestive health and promoting fullness.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 2 July 2026
Definition of making

Browse Nearby Words

formidable
forming
formless
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Forming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forming. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on forming

Nglish: Translation of forming for Spanish Speakers

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

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

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

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
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
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All