EARNING Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

earning

verb

present participle of earn

as in winning

to receive as return for effort during my teen years I earned pocket money by mowing lawns

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in deserving

to be or make worthy of (as a reward or punishment) you've earned the afternoon off after all that hard work

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 earning Stallone also found work as an usher at a movie theater, earning just $34 a week. — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 While De Luca and Abdy had a great run at the box office last year, this year has been littered with myriad misfires including The Bride, The End of Oak Street with no movie earning more than $100M stateside. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026 The lefty struck out three and walked four over two scoreless innings in his major-league debut, earning the win and aiding the Sox in a 5-3 victory. — Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026 Households earning $50,000 to $100,000 are split evenly on socialism, and 69% view big business unfavorably, more than any other income group. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026 But Hazelwood’s $121,358 median value in 2022 is still affordable for a household earning about $40,000, based on economic data. — Ira Goldstein, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026 Sixteen-year-old Avery Kucan was riding McHenry, a horse that raced at Hawthorne and Arlington, winning numerous races and earning more than $150,000. — Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 1 Oct. 2026 But earning rewards from a co-branded airline credit card or hotel credit card is perhaps the easiest way to extend expiration timelines. — Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2026 His feature directorial debut unspooled in front of a packed house at the festival, earning a long, jubilant standing ovation. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 25 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for earning

Verb

Initially, 18 full-size models were built during an internal competition called Project Renaissance, from which the winning design was selected.

— Erik Shilling, Robb Report, 7 Oct. 2026
From Big Talk Studios, the International Emmy Award-winning detective drama, starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin, follows a genius puzzle setter navigating life as a police consultant.

— Leo Barraclough, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of winning

Verb

Millions of dollars in royalties that Smith diverted from real, deserving artists and rights holders.

— Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026
Because every game in college football matters, every team that makes the 12-team playoff is deserving (however much other deserving teams will contest that final at-large bid).

— Bradley Gitz, Arkansas Online, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of deserving

Verb

Ruerup quickly rose through the ranks at Oxxford, gaining experience with everything from product and design to marketing and technology.

— Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026
Stream, a strategic partner for Talpa Studios, focused on creating formats for the streaming generation, has developed several other titles that are gaining traction in the market.

— Leo Barraclough, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of gaining

Verb

After community outreach and a survey garnering more than 2,600 responses, city staff and a subcommittee composed of four city council members selected Union Plaza as its top recommendation to rename the park.

— Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Since then, OpenAI has reported other incidents of agents acting without authorization from humans, garnering concerns from AI safety advocates.

— Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of garnering

Verb

Crafting the ‘nudge’ As an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University, Carleton spent two summers working in a Johns Hopkins prostate cancer lab and was surprised to see surgeons making a point to attend the department’s journal club.

— Allessandra DiCorato, STAT, 8 Oct. 2026
If the waiver is granted, callers would still be limited by certain conditions, including allowing consumers to opt out and making no more than three calls within 30 days to each individual recipient.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of making

Verb

One limitation of obtaining court orders against counterfeiters is the difficulty of enforcing them in foreign jurisdictions.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Caputo said the idea for the citizenship-for-investment program emerged during Milei's July 2024 visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, when tech executives expressed interest in obtaining Argentine citizenship.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of obtaining

Verb

Kimmel asked, getting the scoop for the general public, whose curiosity about the wedding still lingers.

— Ashley Iasimone, Billboard, 3 Oct. 2026
Of course, amid the rise of streaming movies in the home coming out of the pandemic, followed by the 2023 Los Angeles writers and actors strikes, getting film lovers back into the Cranford Theater remained a challenge.

— Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of getting

Browse Nearby Words

earnestness

earning

earnings

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Earning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earning. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of earning

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

inscrutable

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes