1
as in bitter
causing intense discomfort to one's skin
a biting wind that only the toughest football fans were willing to endure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
the biting comments by the pundits about the government's inaction
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of biting
Bruce Handy, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2025
But the two-hour, 40-minute script by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan is smart, biting, playful and swift-paced.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2025
Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2025
Predictably, no streamers were biting.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for biting
Adjective
The word itself began life as a British colonial term, probably a corruption of kutu, a Malay word for lice and other biting insects.
—Bruce Handy, The Atlantic, 16 Apr. 2025
But the two-hour, 40-minute script by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan is smart, biting, playful and swift-paced.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2025
Verb
Turner was seen grabbing the back of the victim’s head and pressing it into the sand before pulling it up and biting him, according to investigators.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 20 Mar. 2025
Predictably, no streamers were biting.
—Brian Welk, IndieWire, 10 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for biting
Recent Examples of Synonyms for biting
Adjective
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Where Silverman radically departs from Strindberg’s bitter play is in their portrait of Tekla, who is a spikily delightful self-starter instead of the idiot-monster of the original.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
22 May 2025
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Still, Levi isn’t bitter and blames the reporter for trying to use Gunn to publicly shame him.—
Tatiana Siegel,
Variety,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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While the jeers towards Xhaka followed the midfielder, Arsenal’s captain at the time, retaliating to sarcastic cheers from the crowd at him being replaced in an October 2019 home match against Crystal Palace, those directed at Eboue were due to his performance.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
14 May 2025
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His first half was littered with increasingly ridiculous highlights: a lefty hook over Isaiah Hartenstein, a potpourri of 3s with hands in his face, a sarcastic stare-down after his defender tried taking a charge, followed by a pass to himself off the backboard to simplify the finish.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
13 May 2025
Verb
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Directed by Robert Eggers, the gothic horror film sees newlyweds Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) and Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) haunted by the treacherous, blood-sucking Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard).—
EW.com,
EW.com,
30 Dec. 2024
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This time around, even critics were convinced, joining in with libidinous fans to praise the blood-sucking second season, which was recently nominated for two Critics Choice Awards after being largely snubbed by voting bodies last year.—
Elaina Patton,
NBC News,
27 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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His equaliser against Leganes in March was a perfect example, with Bellingham sharpest to react when a shot cannoned off the crossbar.—
Mario Cortegana,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
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The first sign of an eruption at the volcano will be a sharp increase in the number of earthquakes around it, the post states.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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All Systems Red is a legible introduction to Wells’ hyper-capitalist, playfully satiric galaxy.—
Rory Doherty,
Time,
16 May 2025
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That’s the premise of Douglas Is Cancelled, a cruelly funny 2024 BBC sitcom that seems very much in sync with satiric comedies such as The Office and W1A and Yes Minister.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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One spring day in Paris many years ago, my wife, Diana, a most penetrating photographer, capable of seeing like no one else, decided, as an experiment, to walk across the city blindfolded.—
Hisham Matar,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Aug. 2024
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Since the war began in Gaza, more than six months ago, the Israeli magazine +972 has published some of the most penetrating reporting on the Israel Defense Forces’ conduct.—
Isaac Chotiner,
The New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2024
Adjective
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The inmates used blankets to protect themselves from the barbed wire on the fence.—
Alex Sundby,
CBS News,
21 May 2025
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The inmates left the jail through a loading dock, scaled a wall, using blankets to protect themselves from barbed wire, and ran across Interstate 10.—
Michael Levenson,
New York Times,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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What spooks Vara is that A.I. writes what are possibly her essay’s most piercing lines.—
Dwight Garner,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
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Only Jean-Baptiste could make such a screed so funny, so piercing and so devastating.—
Katie Walsh,
Twin Cities,
10 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Biting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/biting. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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