BUCKLING Synonyms: 86 Similar and Opposite Words

buckling

verb

present participle of buckle

as in collapsing

to fall down or in as a result of physical pressure the flimsy bridge buckled under the weight of the caravan of trucks

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in devoting

to occupy (oneself) diligently or with close attention buckled himself down and finished the assignment in record time

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 buckling Its walls of red brick had grown thicker after years of gunked ink, the slats of its wooden floors were wildly uneven beneath the buckling weight of antiquated iron machines. —

Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026 Cal State simply wore down the Lumberjacks, beating their California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals in the second half, sending players in waves with Humboldt finally buckling under the pressure. —

Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2026 Their legs are buckling under the weight of point guard Rodney Rice’s injury and subsequent absence. —

Haley Sawyer, Oc Register, 27 Feb. 2026 Over the past year, spending has been uneven by income bracket, with the poorest Americans buckling under the weight of rising debt, a slowing labor market and cumulative inflation over the past several years. —

Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026 Carr suspects drought has something to do with it, a sign that the natural world is buckling under skyrocketing temperatures and reticent rains. —

Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 20 Feb. 2026 Our knees were buckling, and mud streaked our legs. —

Betsy Andrews, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026 At Storm King, Goldsworthy’s wall wends between trees, at points buckling where the roots have grown. —

Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026 Wet Drywall Soft spots or buckling on your drywall are another sign of potential home damage after a freeze. —

Molly Burford, Southern Living, 6 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for buckling

Verb

Set in a collapsing Caracas, the film follows a woman who returns home after her mother’s funeral to find her apartment taken over by an armed militia.

— Adam Bell April 2, Charlotte Observer, 2 Apr. 2026
The industry was at risk of collapsing—until the physical chemist Fritz Haber, at the behest of the German Supreme Command, managed to take a common by-product of dye manufacture and weaponize it.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Apr. 2026