harnessed

verb

past tense of harness
as in used
to put into action or service huge dams harness the power of water to produce electricity

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 harnessed There were about a million reasons it couldn’t be harnessed, among them the fact that the nearest natural source of EUV is the sun. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026 In a lot of ways, the song mirrors the historic success Karol has harnessed so far on the Tropitour. — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026 An amateur astronomer harnessed artificial intelligence agents to find a previously undiscovered exoplanet lurking in publicly available data. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026 Two of the biggest music superstars on the planet have harnessed their powers. — Spin Staff, SPIN, 13 Oct. 2026 The signature is similar to the microbial system harnessed in gene-editing tools such as CRISPR Cas-9, which is used to modify the DNA of living organisms. — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026 The recent success of a late-stage mRNA cancer vaccine, showing the drug stopped the return of melanoma, has boosted hopes that the approach can be successfully harnessed to attack other cancers. — Allison Deangelis, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026 While this could create problems, it could also be harnessed for neuromorphic computing, where interconnected devices mimic the way the brain processes information. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026 The main restaurant uses 70 percent local suppliers, and the hotel’s water supply is harnessed from rainwater tanks. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harnessed
  1. used
  2. utilized
  3. applied
  4. exploited
  5. employed
Verb
  • The fraudsters used deepfakes to pose as the company’s chief financial officer on a video call.
    — Muskaan Arshad, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Metallurgical coal used for steelmaking was the last critical material to be given the designation in 2025.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of used
Verb
  • Lynn police say the department utilized its Flock cameras to trace the car's license plate, indicating that the car had traveled out of Lynn and in the direction of Saugus.
    — Louisa Moller, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Unlike most eVTOLs, which use propellers, the Roadster utilized compressed air jets to leap over other cars and propel from the top of a ramp six or seven stories high during its product reveal earlier this month.
    — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of utilized
Verb
  • The gorgeous and tasty caramel and cream cheese frosting looks the best when applied with a small offset spatula to give it that swirly effect on the cake.
    — Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 25 Oct. 2026
  • While traditionally only achievable in real life through plastic surgery or extreme makeup, it can be applied instantly online using beauty filters.
    — Chloe Veltman, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of applied
Verb
  • This notorious commercial entity, a precursor of the global corporations of today and big enough to command its own army, ruthlessly exploited foreign resources, human and material.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • That signal can be aggregated, correlated, and exploited by hostile foreign intelligence services to anticipate our movements, targets, and timing.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of exploited
Verb
  • But the very reticence my father employed to protect us had hollowed out our family.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Gonska pushed back on that assertion, saying the political strategy employed by Bass during the June 2 primary was different from the activities now being conducted by Building LA in the runoff.
    — David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of employed

Browse Nearby Words

harness
harnessed
harnesses
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Cite this Entry

“Harnessed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harnessed. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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