SWARMS Synonyms: 70 Similar and Opposite Words

swarms 1 of 3

noun

plural of swarm

as in throngs

a great number of persons or creatures massed together a swarm of tourists descends upon the island every summer

Synonyms & Similar Words

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swarms

2 of 3

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of swarm

as in flocks

to move upon or fill (something) in great numbers meeting little resistance, the pirates swarmed the decks of the merchant ship

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in bursts

to be copiously supplied at this time of year that Mexican resort swarms with college students on spring break

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

swarms

3 of 3

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of swarm

as in climbs

to move (as up or over something) often with the help of the hands in holding or pulling one of the physical challenges had competitors swarming over a pile of logs

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 swarms

Noun

My interview with Altman had been arranged weeks earlier, just as the first revelations emerged about swarms of rogue AI agents conspiring to hack websites. — Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026 Drone swarms were used to provide targeting information to ground units, while tactical UAVs, armed helicopters and unmanned ground vehicles coordinated attacks against simulated targets. — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026 The Cleveland Guardians will host the Chicago White Sox for Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday afternoon, and along with a sellout crowd, swarms of midges will be in attendance. — Zack Meisel, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026 But of course where there’s one rat, there are usually more, and swarms of rats and an angry sea soon become the man’s antagonists. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026 The allied soldiers performed well in a scenario that mimicked previous conflicts with limited air threats, but their systems were not designed for the large drone swarms of modern combat. — Dan Driscoll, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2026 In OpenAI's case, swarms of agents worked together to hack the open-source software platform Hugging Face and OpenAI itself, without alerting humans. — Katie McQue, NPR, 26 Sep. 2026 This comes as the war in Ukraine has already seen widespread deployment of such uncrewed surface vessels in combat, along with swarms of flying attack drones and ground robots. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026 Set Out Traps Set bowls of water with a few drops of baby oil around areas where swarms are congregating. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026

Verb

Still, Hafley’s defense swarms the Raiders and is too much to overcome. — Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026 Before the gaggle of girls swarms her apartment, there’s a sweet moment when Steve drops his daughter off early, and the two divorcees engage in some flirty banter over pizza prep. — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 17 June 2026 On the opposite corner, a herd of schoolchildren swarms a local television reporter. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 June 2026 Washington swarms with health specialists. — Literary Hub, 23 Mar. 2026 The unapologetically lurid tale of two families locked in an ever-complex cat’s cradle of class resentments and adulterous power plays also swarms with queen bees and jaw-droppingly muscular men that feel straight out of the Real Housewives playbook. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 22 Jan. 2026 Launching swarms mid-air The aircraft was publicly displayed for the first time at Airshow China in Zhuhai in 2024, where Chinese broadcasters highlighted its potential military functions. — Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 11 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for swarms

Noun

Leo's visit to Paris came as a birthday present for Jean-Claude Farnabe, who turned 63 on Saturday and spent the morning securing a spot amid the throngs of people.

— CBS News, CBS News, 26 Sep. 2026
The cows made their way to the altar — with the handlers helping to guide them with hay — through throngs of people and a few mascots sitting in seats and lined up on the streets, who stopped by just to see the unique occasion.

— Kimberlee Speakman, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of throngs

Verb

In these moments, the actor bursts through his roles as the Spider does through Reilly, unleashing the Grand Guignol excess that is Nicolas Cage.

— Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Things quickly take a terrifying turn during surgery when a scorpion tail suddenly bursts through Perry’s back, attacking one of the surgeons mid-operation.

— Lily Brown, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026

Definition of bursts

Noun

The twentieth century industrialized advisory through hordes of ambitious young graduates and an apprenticeship model that allowed advice to be sold by those with much less viabexperience.

— Albert Mikkelsen, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Outside of Hotel Chelsea, hordes of fans greeted this season’s cast, who have made the long-running series a cult favorite.

— Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of hordes

Verb

Elimar, the ground floor restaurant, buzzes at breakfast with a spectacular spread including giant wheels of parmesan and sides of prosciutto, fruit, egg and pancake stations, and a gluten-free section.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026
That means that when such a stellar body buzzes a black hole in a rpTDE, its outer layers are stripped, but its core resists the influence of the black hole.

— Robert Lea, Space.com, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of buzzes

Verb

Prices are unlikely to fall below $100 per barrel anytime soon, analysts said, with traders increasingly pricing in a significant loss of regional supply as Saudi Arabia scrambles to restore a crucial pipeline.

— Sam Meredith, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026
As the world scrambles to commercialize safer solid-state batteries and cheaper sodium-ion alternatives, knowing exactly how ions move is everything.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of scrambles

Noun

This summer, a mosquito control company based in Silver Spring, Maryland, began introducing flocks of infertile male mosquitos in residential communities to prevent eggs from hatching.

— Angie Orellana Hernandez, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
Kramer thanked YouTube native Parsons for his film Backroom, which helped energize young audiences, and also noted how the youth demographic flocks to Academy screenings of classic cinema.

— Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of flocks

Verb

On a weekend morning, a van leaves Damascus and clambers toward Monte Rosa, a rocky area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

— Adri Salido, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug. 2026
His colleague, a newly qualified environmental engineer, clambers up onto the backseat.

— Sabrina Weiss, The Dial, 23 Sep. 2025

Definition of clambers

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swarming

swarms

swart

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Style

“Swarms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swarms. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of swarms

noun

verb (1)

verb (2)

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