1
as in bitter
causing intense discomfort to one's skin
a biting wind that only the toughest football fans were willing to endure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
the biting comments by the pundits about the government's inaction
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of biting
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Dec. 2025
While often lumped in with punk, the Fall experimented with multiple styles over the years, with Smith’s biting wit and inimitable delivery serving as constants.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Kari Leibowitz, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2026
Coyotes are encroaching on urban areas, and have killed household pets and livestock, while sometimes also biting humans.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Adjective
The non-biting midge resembles a rice grain and survives in damp moss and algae along the Antarctic Peninsula.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 Dec. 2025
While often lumped in with punk, the Fall experimented with multiple styles over the years, with Smith’s biting wit and inimitable delivery serving as constants.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 27 Nov. 2025
Verb
But whether the darkness is oppressive or peaceful, and whether the cold is biting or refreshing, depends, in part, on our mindset.
—Kari Leibowitz, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2026
Coyotes are encroaching on urban areas, and have killed household pets and livestock, while sometimes also biting humans.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for biting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for biting
Adjective
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Its leader, Tarique Rahman, the son of former prime minister and bitter Hasina rival, the late Khaleda Zia, has since returned to Bangladesh after 17 years of exile and now appears the frontrunner to win.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
10 Feb. 2026
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Their 32 points after 25 games have them one above their Sunday hosts and bitter rivals in 13th place in the Premier League, nine clear of the relegation zone.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Tom Lester played Eb Dawson, the Douglases' sarcastic young farmhand.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The worse things are going, the more bitter and sarcastic my humor sometimes gets.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In this supernatural thriller, you’re transported back to the 1980’s and 90’s of Charleston, South Carolina, where a book club turns into a neighborhood watch as a newcomer to the city might be a blood-sucking demon.—
Amanda Favazza,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2026
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With the sexy newcomer Heated Rivalry now sucking up all the romance-TV oxygen, Part 1 of Bridgerton Season Four arrived last week with something to prove.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
2 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That's partly correlation -- healthier people are more likely to work than sicker people -- but staying in the workplace can also help people stay sharp, according to Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer for AARP.—
Paige Winfield Cunningham The Washington Post,
Arkansas Online,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The tension in a luge sled allows athletes to manipulate it just so, digging in the runners and steering with sharp precision around curves.—
Lindsay Schnell,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The only thing that may be crazier than the actual football life is this satirical comedy-drama that has more to do with a hedonistic existence than play-action passes.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
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But it’s set apart from the rest of her work by a long, satirical section sending up gothic fiction and its fans.—
Boris Kachka,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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After a stinging loss at Wichita State over the weekend, Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway is still figuring out why the Tigers aren't playing their best.—
Corinne S Kennedy,
Memphis Commercial Appeal,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The itchy rash is accompanied by intense stinging, pain, and burning.—
Fara Rosenzweig,
Outside,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
These corporations are enabling violence on the streets and death behind barbed wire.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
12 Feb. 2026
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Reams of barbed wire gathered from the fields around Penpont were fashioned into a mesh curtain whose ends wrapped around two columns at the top of the museum’s grand staircase; the result was both alluring and forbidding.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
One spring day in Paris many years ago, my wife, Diana, a most penetrating photographer, capable of seeing like no one else, decided, as an experiment, to walk across the city blindfolded.—
Hisham Matar,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Aug. 2024
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Since the war began in Gaza, more than six months ago, the Israeli magazine +972 has published some of the most penetrating reporting on the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct.—
Isaac Chotiner,
The New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Biting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/biting. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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