Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preening
Verb
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Following a violent clash that Saturday, group members circulated videos of Lang being dragged into a mob and struck over the head, gloating over the images as evidence that their counterprotest had been effective.—
Christina Buttons,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026 -
No wonder Newsom gloating after the Texas court decision came down.—
Thomas Elias,
Mercury News,
2 Dec. 2025
Verb
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My introduction to Peters came late last year, when Instagram’s algorithm served me a video of him wearing a baseball cap, primping and pouting for the camera.—
Thomas Chatterton Williams,
The Atlantic,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Jenner, like her sister Kim Kardashian, has often turned to Margiela for her most major moments, with an affinity for the house’s sensual, body-exulting designs.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
30 Jan. 2026
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The whoop, the sound of exulting Moby-Dick nuts, goes raggedly around the galleries and hallways of the museum.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
27 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Preening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preening. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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