MAKING OUT Synonyms: 138 Similar and Opposite Words

making out

verb

present participle of make out

as in coping

to meet one's day-to-day needs we're not rich, but we're making out all right

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in knowing

to have a clear idea of I can't quite make out what she is trying to say

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pretending

to take on a false or deceptive appearance he tried to make out that he didn't mind losing his job, but friends suspected he was desperately worried

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in deriving

to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information as best as I can make out, the police were informed of the incident but didn't think it was worth investigating

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 making out And then the other thing was that my friends who were in the audience told me that people in the audience were making out, not only dancing, but actually making out. — Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 7 Oct. 2026 Axl eventually contacted Vance, my DP, directly to shoot the footage of him and two girls making out in the car. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026 Ava and Shai naturally did some more making out at Charlie’s, but what did Ariana get up to? — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026 The book has the teens making out the first night things went from friends to something more, but the show took it to another level with Bret and Debbie having sex on a lounge chair at a party. — Entertainment Weekly, 13 Aug. 2026 On the night of the Sex Purge, the streets are flooded with attractive, thin, largely heterosexual couples making out all over the place. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 This surge is driven by state funding compacts and a commitment to growing California undergraduate enrollment, making out-of-state admission increasingly competitive. — Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 On July 1, Rodriguez and Hayden were spotted making out at Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s White Party, one month after his split from Jaclyn Cordeiro. — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026 The finale concluded on an uncomfortable cliffhanger between Benny and Carmen, as the former walked in on the latter making out with his crush Miles (Rish Shah), leading to an unexpected confrontation in which Benny is accidentally outed to his sister. — Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 6 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for making out

Verb

Kawhi Leonard taught him about body management and coping with expectations.

— Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026
But with credit-card interest rates now as high as 28 percent, a short-term coping strategy can quickly become a long-term financial crisis, as interest rates climb and interest costs grow.

— Sheldon H. Jacobson, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of coping

Verb

So how did that work out for you, with this whole world applauding you for this, and then knowing people are pissed off too?

— Chris Willman, Variety, 1 Oct. 2026
Maryna Lystopad, 35, said her hair has started falling out due to the stress from escalating attacks and never knowing where the next attack will hit.

— Susie Blann, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of knowing

Verb

Brown's fourth-quarter touchdown celebration included putting his hand to his crotch and then to his face before pretending to pass out.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2026
If Gayle Newland had been a cis man who had seduced Miss X by pretending to be Kye Fortune, the case would have fallen outside the McNally principle, and Miss X would have had very little chance of having her complaint heard.

— S. C. Cornell, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of pretending

Verb

There is just enough wry humor—think Shaun of the Dead—sprinkled throughout to keep things from getting too grim, often deriving from Bryan’s cluelessness and general lack of skills.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026
The Chiefs finished dead last in the NFL with 362 yards deriving from explosive rushes last season.

— Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of deriving

Verb

Some of the stories are just spoken matter-of-factly, while others are acted out with Jaku doing all the voices.

— Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
Anyone attempting to judge these works by their relationship to canonized video, computational art, and painting may have difficulty doing so.

— Simon Denny, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of doing

Verb

Gathering relevant data is a vital first step to understanding everything from the value of underground mineral deposits to the money held in pension funds.

— Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 5 Oct. 2026
The incentive structures that power the mathematical community are not set up for a world where solving problems is easy and understanding their answers remains hard.

— Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of understanding

Verb

As for 5-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who was demoted last week, there seems to be more to the situation than Deion is intentionally letting on.

— Trey Wallace OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
But if the contract has more to do with his absence than the Steelers are letting on?

— Mike DeFabo, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of letting on

Verb

Atlanta’s rotation got upended during its three-game NL wild-card series win over the Philadelphia Phillies, with the Braves using ace Chris Sale in relief in the deciding game.

— Beth Harris, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
The Braves deployed him Thursday, for the final four outs of the deciding game of the wild-card round.

— Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026