as in influence
the power to direct the thinking or behavior of others usually indirectly
lacking much of the leverage it once had, the union is now being forced to make some concessions
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to use
to take unfair advantage of
a reality show contestant who's trying to leverage her 15 minutes of fame
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of leverage
Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 21 May 2025
Now, Trump is using them as leverage for his larger trade ambitions.
—Andrew R. Chow, Time, 14 May 2025
Panagis Galiatsatos, Baltimore Sun, 26 May 2025
This leverages a behavior known as negative photoaxis, where insects move away from UV light.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for leverage
Noun
If the bill fails, the SALT cap would expire altogether, a fact that the suburban lawmakers believe gives them leverage in the talks that have dragged on for several weeks.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 21 May 2025
Now, Trump is using them as leverage for his larger trade ambitions.
—Andrew R. Chow, Time, 14 May 2025
Verb
Even more, starting in February of this year, engAGE with Heart and Together in Care came together to leverage the strength of both programs — caring for the communities and the patients.
—Panagis Galiatsatos, Baltimore Sun, 26 May 2025
This leverages a behavior known as negative photoaxis, where insects move away from UV light.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 25 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for leverage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for leverage
Noun
-
Nothing destroys influence faster than saying one thing while doing another.—
Nirmal Chhabria,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
-
There are also vastly different political calculations for independents in red states like Florida, where the Democratic brand has lost influence, versus a swing state like Michigan.—
Ramsey Touchberry,
The Washington Examiner,
29 May 2025
Verb
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Berry was 14 when a classmate used an AI app to attach a nude body to an Instagram photo of her face, before circulating it on social media.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
20 May 2025
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Educators will have canoes and kayaks, paddles and life jackets to use and will offer instruction.—
Flip Putthoff,
Arkansas Online,
20 May 2025
Noun
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As the first American pope, Leo XIV could holds symbolic and substantive sway in how U.S. Catholics interpret the intersection of faith and governance.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 May 2025
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Bhattacharya’s sway, too, is likely to expand far past his own agency.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
17 May 2025
Verb
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Our own threat research labs (CTRL) revealed five trends defining how bad actors will further exploit AI to advance their malicious intentions.—
Etay Maor,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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Updates often include important security patches that fix vulnerabilities hackers might try to exploit.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2025
Verb
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All platforms manipulate users to keep them scrolling.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
23 May 2025
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Attackers can design prompts that insert malicious instructions through seemingly innocent prompts, manipulate the model to reset its understanding of its role or subtly influence the model's output by feeding misleading information or context.—
Etay Maor,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
Verb
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The bill was named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 28 after being abused by a Missouri summer camp director.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 May 2025
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Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.—
Graham Lee Brewer,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Leverage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leverage. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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