mooching

verb

present participle of mooch
1
as in begging
to live by relying on someone else's generosity or hospitality without sharing in the cost or responsibility he's always mooching off of his friends, even though he can easily pay his own way

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in sneaking
to move about in a sly or secret manner I suspect she's mooching around in the background and keeping an eye on us

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in wandering
to move about from place to place aimlessly kids on vacation mooching about the house and looking for something to do

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 mooching Meanwhile, the palace has been besieged by loutish suitors, led by the scheming Antinous (Robert Pattinson), all of them vying for the queen’s hand in remarriage and mooching off the absent king’s food and wine. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 2026 On top of that, Nico is also, quite obviously, just mooching off/clinging to Mindy because he got cut off by his family. — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mooching
  1. begging
  2. sneaking
  3. wandering
  4. freeloading
  5. lurking
  6. roaming
  7. stealing
  8. cruising
Verb
  • Video on social media showed distressed shopkeepers begging young men to stop stealing their inventory—and those young men pushing them aside to grab shoes and food from their shelves.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
  • So your group chat has been begging you to host the next big viewing night, and your bank account is giving you side-eye.
    — Lauren Schuster, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of begging
Verb
  • For a solid thirty minutes, the candidates defended their honor as the race’s most pro-Israel candidate — at times sneaking in jabs about their opponent.
    — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
  • But, the heartbreak would come sneaking around the bend over what might be the wildest 20 seconds of recent Big Ten memory, thanks to the insane final few minutes.
    — Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of sneaking
Verb
  • It is said that Hannah’s ghost is fond of wandering Spring Hill Road.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026
  • This formation process also means that brown dwarfs are cosmic loners, wandering the darkness of space alone, bereft of the light of a parent star.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of wandering
Verb
  • However, no data center should be freeloading on my constituents in the form of higher electricity bills.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Scientists tracking humpbacks off the coast of Australia have captured rare footage that shows clutches of the freeloading fish peeling away from their host in what looks like a high-speed game of chicken, just moments before the whale breaches.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2025
Definition of freeloading
Verb
  • Unfortunately not, because another issue is lurking around the corner.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • John Willoughby Frank Dillane Dillane’s Willoughby, like Creed-Miles’ Marianne, has more of a darkness lurking beneath.
    — Reshma Gopaldas, IndieWire, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of lurking
Verb
  • The experiment goes wrong, the Farmer disappears and a large, hairy creature begins roaming the woods around Mossingham.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
  • What’s most notable is the number of young people roaming around the market well before the crack of dawn, Chris says.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of roaming
Verb
  • With the Rays trailing 2-1 after Liam Hicks' RBI groundout in the fourth, Mesa was caught stealing third for the final out of the fifth with slugger Yandy Díaz at the plate.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Continue reading … DIRTY POLITICS — Antifa supporter charged with stealing GOP campaign signs in NY race to replace Stefanik.
    — , FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of stealing
Verb
  • Gazza, who has been cruising along all episode, doesn’t bowl the judges over with his treacle pudding or his Black Forest gâteau, which is a little bit shocking.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
  • If Mick hadn’t come cruising into that playground, lights off?
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of cruising

Browse Nearby Words

mooches
mooching
mood
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Cite this Entry

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

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