SETTING BACK Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

setting back

verb

present participle of set back

as in holding back

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for setting back

Verb

She is baffled by the way her friends Moe and Fumina rail against their parents, especially when Yuko is always holding back at home, forever walking on eggshells.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026
The reduction in state investments and holding back promised funding to cover our faculty raises will have detrimental consequences to our institution, to us as students, and to the state’s future health care workforce.

— Opinion, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of holding back

Verb

Meanwhile, gross margins are holding up despite input cost inflation and company continues to be execute flawlessly in GPU, agentic CPU and customer traction.

— Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026
With earnings holding up, AI investment accelerating, the rally broadening and the political calendar becoming more favorable, the path of least resistance still appears higher.

— Robert Daugherty, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of holding up

Verb

Sacramento Regional Transit will adjust six bus routes beginning Sunday, including delaying departure times and eliminating one early-morning trip from Florin.

— Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 7 Aug. 2026
The discovery prevented the plane from being moved on schedule, delaying a flight and forcing JetBlue to use a different aircraft instead, according to the affidavit, an interruption estimated to cost the airline over $2,400.

— Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of delaying

Verb

Now in his early nineties, Gregory (My Dinner with André, NYFF19) shows no sign of slowing down, as evidenced by this delightful, enormously moving document of his inextinguishable creative spark.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
Rodriguez, who is is 50, said seeing someone more than 30 years his senior exhibiting so much energy on stage was an inspiring sign that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean slowing down.

— Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of slowing

Verb

Landa worked with the Association to get the original project approved in 2017 after holding over 30 public meetings.

— Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2026
And moviegoers turned out to indies from Rosemead to The Chronology of Water, All That’s Left Of You and more, new and holding over, limited, wide and top ten.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Jan. 2026

Definition of holding over

Verb

In Salisbury, which has become a hub for Haitians who work in nearby factories and farms, ICE recently started detaining people in parking lots and other areas immigrants frequent, according to Fouché of Safe Harbor Circles.

— Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
This was accomplished in part by lowering operating costs — meaning the business of detaining people is becoming cheaper — and because of more people being put in detention.

— Vanessa Romo, NPR, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of detaining

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.

Browse Nearby Words

setting at

setting back

setting by

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Setting back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/setting%20back. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of setting back

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

gnomic

Popular in Grammar & Usage

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?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

'Gaslighting,' 'Woke,' 'Democracy,' and Other Top Lookups

Popular

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

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes