GETTING BY Synonyms: 35 Similar and Opposite Words

getting by

verb

present participle of get by

as in coping

to meet one's day-to-day needs working at night paid my college tuition and enabled me to get by—but just barely

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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 getting by Acuff went left and went right, getting by Grimes rather easily. — Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Only one lane of eastbound traffic was getting by during rush hour as police investigated. — Digital Producer, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026 Related Stories Manchevski wrote and directed the dark comedy, which centers on Malina and Viktor, a sister and brother getting by hand to mouth at the edges of Macedonian society. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 1 Oct. 2026 These cities and towns promised better jobs, cheaper homes, less traffic and higher quality of life, outweighing Florida’s allure of tropical weather and ease of getting by on Spanish alone. — Elliot Spagat, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026 The result, says Roya, is deepening apathy among her fellow citizens, whose preoccupation now is just getting by. — Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Sep. 2026 That free ticket, obtained by getting by hitting two of six numbers on a previous drawing, is now worth $6 million. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026 That is not the performance of a team getting by on heart. — Sylvana Quader Sinha, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026 Mexico passed its opening test with flying colors, getting by South Africa 2-0. — Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 18 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for getting by

Verb

When people have little relief from stress in a chaotic environment, their brains have difficulty coping with the ongoing prediction errors, Friston, McEwen and neuroscientist Achim Peters argued in a 2017 article.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Building and protecting those pipelines will be expensive—but far cheaper than trying to keep the strait open by force or coping with periodic shortages and price spikes.

— Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of coping

Verb

So my wife and I are getting on a plane, leaving our three children with a babysitter, and praying war won’t break out and strand us.

— Jonathan Dekel, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
The flight went on as planned, but these men knew my grandfather and heard that his daughters were getting on the plane.

— Suzy Exposito, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of getting on

Verb

But people getting along is rarely as simple as wishing it, and the truth remains that Harry and his brother Prince William are still feuding.

— StyleCaster Editors, StyleCaster, 7 Oct. 2026
Interestingly, a fleeting scene of Noah leaning on his teammates becomes a tragic mirror to Hal never having been able to do so (as a kid or as a Lantern) and John never getting along with his brothers.

— Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of getting along

Verb

In 2025 the hyperscalers alone poured more than $300 billion into data centers, chips, and grid capacity, and that spend is doing real work in the top-line growth figures.

— Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
What employers are doing Kostka says there have recently been fewer health insurers in her area to choose from.

— Alana Semuels, Time, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of doing

Verb

Likewise, this season, dancers making out at Diesel made spectators part of the performance.

— Joan Kennedy, Vogue, 12 Oct. 2026
That’s no longer what, a few years ago, might have been described as a cautious approach, not when audiences are making out-of-nowhere titles like Obsession and Backrooms into buzzy hits and craving something new.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of making out

Verb

By contrast, recent restrictions or delays suggest a greater emphasis on managing relations with Beijing and avoiding unnecessary escalation.

— Ningrong Liu, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
My experience includes managing campaigns, leading teams, and building relationships with community leaders.

— Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026