Synonyms of exploiting

exploiting

verb

present participle of exploit

1

as in using

to take unfair advantage of

the type of person who exploits a friend's good nature by constantly sponging off of him

Synonyms & Similar Words

• using
• abusing
• leveraging
• manipulating
• milking
• playing (on or upon)
• imposing (on or upon)
• pimping
• capitalizing (on)
• walking on
• working
• cheating
• trading on
• cashing in (on)
• mistreating
• overcharging
• commercializing
• sticking
• fleecing
• bleeding
• soaking
• skinning
• commodifying
• jerking around

2

as in manipulating

to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means

a politician more than willing to exploit any national tragedy for political gain

Synonyms & Similar Words

• manipulating
• playing (upon)
• deceiving
• maneuvering
• tricking
• duping
• plotting
• jockeying
• engineering
• devising
• fooling
• deluding
• scheming
• hoodwinking
• defrauding
• bluffing
• swindling
• intriguing
• kidding
• masterminding
• gulling
• fleecing
• hoaxing
• conning
• finagling
• arranging
• contriving
• chiseling
• taking in
• cozening
• beguiling
• finessing
• snowing
• shanghaiing
• cheating
• machinating
• hustling

3

as in utilizing

to put into action or service

it will be a shame if you don't exploit your artistic talent to the fullest

Synonyms & Similar Words

• using
• utilizing
• applying
• employing
• harnessing
• operating
• exercising
• manipulating
• drawing on
• making use of
• handling
• wielding
• bringing to bear
• working
• directing
• running
• recycling
• reusing
• cannibalizing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• neglecting
• misusing
• misapplying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of exploiting

As the unit enters its second year, its priorities remain identifying victims and building cases against those exploiting them. — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026

Still, hackers can infiltrate companies by duping an employee into installing malware on their computer or exploiting unknown vulnerabilities in their software or network. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026

Balochistan has endured a long-running insurgency by groups that accuse Pakistan of discriminating against the province and exploiting its natural resources. — Munir Ahmed, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026

The Trasks encounter a wide swath of citizens, haggling with sneaky cheats, exploiting innocent fools, and befriending big-hearted neighbors. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 Oct. 2026

Harnesses like Claude Code and Cursor are great at exploiting large language model (LLM) capabilities for a specific task, like coding, for instance. — Dan Faulkner, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Rather, such groups, exploiting the perception of women as less of a security threat, primarily saw women’s active role in offensive operations as that of a conveyor of bombs. — Sara Harmouch, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026

Hackers have been exploiting a critical vulnerability in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite in an attempt to obtain email backups and authentication credentials of vulnerable organzations, Microsoft has warned. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 30 Sep. 2026

The Yindjibarndi have accused Fortescue of exploiting their land and damaging cultural sites. — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026