as in giant
unusually large
harvested a whacking number of zucchini from the garden
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in extremely
to a great degree
the clown wore a whacking big pair of shoes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in smacking
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner
whacked the vending machine to get the candy bar to fall
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in murdering
slang
to put to death deliberately
without a second thought the mob boss had them whacked
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for whacking
Adjective
-
Born in Okayama, Japan, Hattori began his racing career on the open-wheel circuits of his home country before taking a giant leap across the Pacific to chase his dreams in America.—
Greg Engle,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025 -
Dire wolves mostly ate horses and bison, with occasional forays into giant sloths and baby mammoths.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Adverb
-
The fashion house’s artisans began experimenting with the material—which is extremely lightweight, strong, and pliable—and eventually created handles out of them by gently bending the stalks with fire and then applying many coats of lacquer.—
Diana Budds,
Architectural Digest,
8 Apr. 2025
-
Even some of Trump’s allies, including Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, have recently warned that tariffs are bad policy that rely on extremely flawed logic.—
John Towfighi, David Goldman and Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women as well as attempting to murder seven others.—
Lorenzino Estrada,
Arizona Republic,
2 Jan. 2025
-
The timing was awkward — as Bashar and his gang were murdering unarmed protesters en masse.—
Jay Nordlinger,
National Review,
31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Last year saw a huge uptick in tornadoes later in the spring and activity continued through December, with nearly 2,000 tornado reports in total.—
Mary Gilbert,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2025
-
More: Top Armed Services Republican and Democrat call for independent probe of Hegseth and Signal leak The retired lieutenant colonel said Hegseth appeared to have added real time updates from a secure Defense Department messaging system – a huge breach of security.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The bathroom could be closed off with sleek pivoting panels and came—like all suites—with a gigantic shower and round bath the size of a Jacuzzi tub.—
Chris Schaklx,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Apr. 2025
-
The polar vortex is a gigantic, circular area of cold air high up in the atmosphere that typically spins over the North Pole (as its name suggests).—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
5 Apr. 2025
Adverb
-
The combo of that large, efficient head; the dampening factor of the wood handle; and a nice texture at the base of the grip just felt so damned good, strike after strike.—
Joe Jackson,
Outside Online,
20 Nov. 2024
-
Still, Moore is pretty damned great — this could almost be her Fly.—
Tom Gliatto,
Peoplemag,
20 Sep. 2024
Verb
-
Before hitting the East Coast, this storm hit the Midwest on Sunday.—
Max Golembo,
ABC News,
6 Jan. 2025
-
United have scored 23 goals in 20 Premier League games, off the back of hitting 57, 58, and 57 goals in the past three full seasons.—
David Ornstein,
The Athletic,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Apple didn’t invent the first smartphone or wireless headphones, but look at the enormous commercial success of the iPhone and AirPods.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
1 Apr. 2025
-
The play still brought in an enormous $3.28 million, and played to a more than 100 percent capacity with an average ticket price of $298.83.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Whacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whacking. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share