as in wrenching
intensely or unbearably painful
a racking cough kept him awake all night
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in plaguing
to cause persistent suffering to
the young man was racked with guilt over the lie he had told to his parents the country has been racked by years of civil war
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pulling
to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure
she racked her brain trying to remember where she'd put the money the sails of the boat were racked by the storm's winds
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of racking
Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
The Wiggles are a powerhouse, racking-up more than 30 million sales of albums and DVDs, and upwards of 8 million book sales.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racking
Verb
-
Large swaths of eastern Colorado have evaded the drought plaguing most of the state west of 25.—
John Meyer,
Denver Post,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The group discussed several issues still plaguing the towing industry and vehicle owners after the legislature overhauled the state’s more than 100-year-old law in May.—
Dave Altimari,
ProPublica,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
All major indexes dipped slightly Tuesday, with tech shares such as Nvidia and Microsoft pulling back.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Good Times Oakland is pulling from a deep well of retail bottles, and has a bar for the public to sip and sup.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Those who dismissed intersectionality saw such policies as little more than allowing the disadvantaged to commit crimes without consequences to make up for past inequities, afflicting crime victims from the same disadvantaged communities.—
John Scott Lewinski,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Americans live shorter lives than their European equivalents, McClatchy News reported in April, but the trend of stagnant life expectancy appears to be afflicting European nations the same, according to the study.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
For athletes across all sports, few experiences are as agonizing as being forced to leave competition with a sudden muscle cramp.—
Michael Hales,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The crux of this tale is now an agonizing decision that Joan has to make, egged on by her rather flighty coordinator Ryan (John Early), who is competing against Anna to make this all work.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The former human-rights lawyer entered on a tourist visa and filed for political asylum in October of that year, claiming the governments that succeeded Correa were persecuting him.—
Syra Ortiz Blanes,
Miami Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
-
For 25 years, Chavism has co-opted Venezuela's infrastructure for its own enrichment, persecuting journalists and opposition, wrecking the economy, and leaving its citizens in poverty.—
Kristina Foltz,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Within the film’s compact running time, writer-director Ben Hania traces the fraught and torturous hours of January 29, 2024, when Palestine Red Crescent volunteers in the West Bank tried to calm a terrified 6-year-old girl and get an ambulance to her in Gaza.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
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From the almost humorous to the truly torturous, being plunked into unknown wilderness in total isolation—which is what happens on Alone—results in all manner of strange mental phenomenon.—
Woniya Thibeault,
Outside,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
And targeting, torturing, and murdering political opponents, rivals, and critics have marked the conflict since its beginning.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Jamie Simpson of Covington was sentenced in March to 60 years in prison for holding his wife captive and torturing her for hours before barricading himself inside her home in a lengthy standoff with police.—
Quinlan Bentley,
The Enquirer,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Pyongyang has continued to exercise significant control over the population and severely restrict the rights and freedoms of its population, and that has only gotten more intense over the last decade.—
Mike Brest,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
This question — which strikes at the heart of a perennial issue in American politics, frequently reignited by recurring mass shootings — sparked an intense partisan divide.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Racking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racking. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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