1
as in clenched
to have or keep in one's hands
gripped the handlebars tightly and raced down the hill
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fascinated
to hold the attention of as if by a spell
that true crime story gripped me as much as any whodunit
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in interested
to hold the attention of
that movie will grip any true sports car fan
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in grasped
to reach for and take hold of by embracing with the fingers or arms
the baby gripped my fingers and wouldn't let go
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gripped
Like much of Europe, Romania has been gripped by a heatwave this week, with temperatures in some areas forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
—
ABC News,
1 July 2026
Button Gwinnett didn’t want to be in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress in the summer of 1776, and not just because a heat wave gripped the city and delegates dressed in wool and powdered wigs.
—
Adam Van Brimmer,
AJC.com,
30 June 2026
Much of the wider region — Nevada, Colorado and beyond — has been gripped by widespread drought after an unusually dry winter.
—
Willem Marx,
NPR,
28 June 2026
With Utah gripped by one of its most dangerous wildfire seasons in recent memory, state officials have imposed sweeping restrictions on Fourth of July fireworks ahead of the nation’s 250th Independence Day celebrations, saying the risk of sparking catastrophic new fires is simply too great.
—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
27 June 2026
The march began Saturday afternoon as temperatures reached at least 100 degrees amid a record-breaking heat wave that has gripped most of Europe.
—
Justin Spike,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2026
At least 40 people in France have drowned in recent days while trying to escape a blistering heat wave that has gripped much of Europe.
—
Rena Rowe,
The Washington Examiner,
23 June 2026
Another gripped a yellow stress ball throughout his testimony.
—
Stepheny Price , Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
The Murder of Rachel Nickell has viewers gripped.
—
Britt Hayes,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 June 2026
ABC News,
1 July 2026
Button Gwinnett didn’t want to be in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress in the summer of 1776, and not just because a heat wave gripped the city and delegates dressed in wool and powdered wigs.
—
Adam Van Brimmer,
AJC.com,
30 June 2026
Much of the wider region — Nevada, Colorado and beyond — has been gripped by widespread drought after an unusually dry winter.
—
Willem Marx,
NPR,
28 June 2026
With Utah gripped by one of its most dangerous wildfire seasons in recent memory, state officials have imposed sweeping restrictions on Fourth of July fireworks ahead of the nation’s 250th Independence Day celebrations, saying the risk of sparking catastrophic new fires is simply too great.
—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
27 June 2026
The march began Saturday afternoon as temperatures reached at least 100 degrees amid a record-breaking heat wave that has gripped most of Europe.
—
Justin Spike,
Los Angeles Times,
27 June 2026
At least 40 people in France have drowned in recent days while trying to escape a blistering heat wave that has gripped much of Europe.
—
Rena Rowe,
The Washington Examiner,
23 June 2026
Another gripped a yellow stress ball throughout his testimony.
—
Stepheny Price , Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
The Murder of Rachel Nickell has viewers gripped.
—
Britt Hayes,
Entertainment Weekly,
8 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gripped
Verb
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The White House Key Facts A rendering of the passport shared by the White House on Friday shows Trump presumably leaning over the Resolute Desk, fists clenched, alongside his signature and text from the Declaration of Independence.
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Coley and the audience know this isn’t true, but Sonya’s clenched jaw and steely gaze don’t leave room for questions.
Verb
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The naturalist George Forster was fascinated by plants and animals, but he was also driven by a passionate belief in the rights of all people regardless of race, gender, or social status.
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Denby, as a critic, was fascinated by the great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, as much for his expressions as for his torso, arms, or legs.
Verb
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What interested him was the gap between the performance of power and whatever lives underneath it.
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That’s a cheap and easy analogy, but that’s what interested me to want to make this show.
Verb
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In second grade, Hung completed a yearlong math class in three months and grasped pre-algebra in third grade, said Choi, a longtime tutor who began teaching her son during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The drive to define the face as a data point, something to be grasped and controlled, underpins the bureaucracy of the modern nation-state, in which faces are surveyed, categorized, and stored in digital banks.
Verb
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Allowance clutched in hot hands, the neighborhood kids come together to choose among ice pops, Italian ice, and all kinds of colorful ice cream treats.
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Women clutched photographs of sons and brothers killed in the war — many of them fighting for Hezbollah — while others held photographs of Nasrallah or Iran’s Khamenei.
Verb
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Every young child is enchanted by the beautiful colors of the rainbow.
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Throughout the set, lasers, strobes and flashes enchanted the audience, visuals dancing alongside the music.
Verb
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That journey validated why Coward became intrigued with joining an independent sports agency.
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But Kaplan also was intrigued by other labs’ findings that mast cells could fend off a common type of skin bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus.
Verb
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The rapper, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, has been held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since he was arrested in September 2024.
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That means every state budget could be held hostage until the whims of a small fraction of legislators is satisfied.
Cite this Entry
“Gripped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gripped. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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