acknowledging

verb

present participle of acknowledge
as in admitting
to accept the truth or existence of (something) usually reluctantly finally had to acknowledge that she'd outgrown her favorite jacket

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 acknowledging Raskin opened the missive by acknowledging that Paramount has not responded to his four previous inquiries in the past 12 months. — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026 Mark Kelly hopes to see historical markers placed in a park or along a walking trail in the subdivision acknowledging the history of the land. — Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026 On Tuesday, Penner confirmed that the team had closed on a purchase of about 10 acres of land in Burnham Yard the day before, while acknowledging some challenges with the timeline of the project. — Jennifer McRae, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 The nurse, Rebecca Jollotta, testified Clancy repeatedly attempted to change psychiatric medications despite acknowledging that switching drugs would likely impact her mental health. — Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026 Cambridge has since opened a fresh investigation following new information, and Arday has resigned while denying dishonesty and acknowledging mistakes. — Nancy Doyle, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026 Ogwumike didn’t seem ready to declare the season lost, even while acknowledging that things have gone wrong. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 Instead of acknowledging this, the Skubal trade has given rise to conspiracy theories from Brewers fans that the Tigers took the Dodgers offer because of some type of hypothetical collusion. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026 Trusting God with my well-being was a way of acknowledging His omnipotence. — Russell Whittaker, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for acknowledging
  1. admitting
  2. confessing
  3. conceding
Verb
  • Blowing Oleksa’s cover would mean publicly admitting that there are five senators on her asset list — one of whom was seduced into posing for some, uh, compromising photographs.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Asked if his new costars are more talented than the JoBros when they were cast in the 2008 film, Nick is perfectly comfortable with admitting the obvious.
    — Allison DeGrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of admitting
Verb
  • Dylan gives a subtle warning for Alex to stay away from Kylie, but Alex was still close to confessing his evolved feelings for her.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Nikki Rodriguez’s character might still technically be dating Alex, but that isn’t stopping her from flirting with his brother after confessing her love in the season 2 finale.
    — Kat Pettibone, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of confessing
Verb
  • But keeping their promotion rivals at bay most definitely was, Parkinson’s men conceding 24 times in those dozen games, 16 of which came on Welsh soil.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The Bulls got on the scoreboard straight after halftime, ending New Zealand's streak without conceding at 124 minutes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of conceding

Browse Nearby Words

acknowledges
acknowledging
acknowledgment
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acknowledging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/acknowledging. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on acknowledging

Nglish: Translation of acknowledging 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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of oxymoron

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

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
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All