resisting 1 of 2

adjective

as in resistant

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

resisting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of resist
as in opposing
to refuse to give in to it is important to resist the temptation to run away from your problems

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 resisting
Adjective
There’s likely to be grasping, resisting, skillful and futile efforts to swim and worry about what’s up ahead. — Ginny Whitelaw, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Verb
They must be applied directly to someone’s skin to produce a voltage that causes pain, which is intended to gain compliance from people who are resisting. — ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026 Ludwig was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest. — Jose Fabian, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026 The Social Democrats, led by Kurt Schumacher, a prickly figure who had suffered horribly for resisting the Nazis, were mistrustful of the United States and hoped to reunify Germany as a neutral state at the center of Europe. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026 Refusing to step out when instructed can lead to charges like interfering with public duties or resisting detention, even if the underlying stop was for a minor violation. — Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Aug. 2026 The records also list a felony charge of malicious conduct by a prisoner and a resisting-a-public-officer charge. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026 Wounaan have spent centuries refusing and resisting those forces, fighting against those who take land and rights unjustly. — Chenier Carpio Opua, The Conversation, 5 Aug. 2026 Julian Beaudion withdrew after resisting pressure to step aside, making South Dakota’s contest the third Senate race without a Democratic candidate. — Ben Binday, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2026 Protecting mission and culture does not mean resisting change. — Richard Neal, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for resisting
  1. resistant
  2. opposing
  3. conflicting
  4. withstanding
  5. competing
  6. fighting
  7. defiant
  8. recalcitrant
Adjective
  • In Romania, some heat and drought-resistant crops like sunflowers have been less affected by the extreme conditions and yields have been plentiful.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Google also says the phones use new glass that is twice as resistant to scratching.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of resistant
Verb
  • His greater concern is that even a militarily weak pact could encourage opposing alignments to harden.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Meanwhile, residents are organizing a petition opposing the home and are pushing for the operation to be shut down or relocated.
    — Carmela Karcher, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of opposing
Adjective
  • With conflicting statements coming out of Washington and Tehran about whether direct talks are even underway, and no clarity on what the next MOU might entail, the oil price roller coaster is in for many more climbs and drops in the weeks ahead.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The escalation comes while there is shaky maritime security in both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, and as Iran and the US give conflicting accounts of whether direct talks to reopen the waterway were taking place.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of conflicting
Verb
  • Consider that a durable laptop capable of withstanding an accidental drop might be worth extra money.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Holding a plaza for more than a month, withstanding a police crackdown and bringing senior ministers to neutral ground requires people.
    — Penny Abeywardena, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of withstanding
Adjective
  • When competing schools want to obtain the services of elite athletes but are blocked by NCAA eligibility limits, as has been the case, that’s a potential antitrust problem.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 25 June 2026
  • From the non-competing tier, there’s a few teams who absolutely spent in the 2026 draft, no shade here.
    — Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Definition of competing
Verb
  • There’s fighting in the streets, along the ramparts, hot oil poured on men climbing ladders.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Numerous other suburban Chicago fire departments assisted in fighting the blaze.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of fighting
Adjective
  • In 1933 Mississippi, a group of female friends forms a defiant bond.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Carlos Manuel Vesga submitted the Pluribus episode where Manousos treks up through South America while accepting no help from the hive members, a showcase of defiant pride and a good bit of physically demanding work.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of defiant
Adjective
  • Part of the problem is that, outside of their tenants’ pleas, landlords face neither any real pressure nor any legal requirement to install shutters and ceiling fans; even owners who want to do so are thwarted by recalcitrant co-op boards or finicky historic-preservation reviews.
    — Henry Grabar, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026
  • The patron saint of the 2024 Democratic National Convention was Fannie Lou Hamer—recalcitrant sharecropper turned agitator and, like the Democratic presidential nominee, a black woman.
    — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 15 June 2026
Definition of recalcitrant

Browse Nearby Words

resistible
resisting
resistless
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Resisting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/resisting. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on resisting

Nglish: Translation of resisting 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 circumscribe

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

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?
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

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

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