Synonyms of driving

driving 1 of 2

adjective

as in dynamic

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dynamic
• hustling
• motivated
• diligent
• hungry
• determined
• enterprising
• industrious
• spirited
• lively
• venturesome
• animated
• eager
• venturous
• impassioned
• gung ho
• competitive
• energetic
• aggressive
• vigorous
• avid
• competing
• ardent
• assertive
• opportunistic
• rival
• pushy
• pushing
• raring
• keen
• high-flying
• pretentious
• aspiring
• ambitious
• overambitious
• hard-driving
• rivalrous
• self-assertive
• go-getting
• self-seeking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• indifferent
• disinterested
• uninterested
• casual
• apathetic
• lackadaisical
• unexcited
• easygoing
• sluggish
• unenthusiastic
• lazy
• lethargic
• shiftless
• uneager
• lukewarm
• listless
• tepid
• halfhearted
• lazyish
• spiritless
• unaggressive
• unassertive
• unambitious
• ambitionless

driving

2 of 2

verb

present participle of drive

1

as in running

to urge, push, or force onward

cowboys drove the herd of cattle from San Antonio to San Francisco

Synonyms & Similar Words

• running
• shepherding
• punching
• herding
• whipping
• pressing
• spurring
• wrangling
• hounding
• prodding
• exhorting
• prompting
• goading
• flogging
• egging
• pricking
• scourging

2

as in riding

to travel by a motorized vehicle

I'm going to drive across the country—want to come?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• riding
• motoring
• racing
• automobiling
• tooling
• taxiing
• rolling
• wheeling
• dragging
• chauffeuring
• hacking
• joyriding

3

as in pushing

to apply force to (someone or something) so that it moves in front of one

drove the plunger into the opening

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pushing
• shoving
• thrusting
• propelling
• moving
• jamming
• squeezing
• forcing
• bearing (down)
• compressing
• pressuring
• weighing (upon)
• impelling
• depressing
• compelling
• leaning (on or against)
• squashing
• ramming
• bulldozing
• muscling

4

as in forcing

to cause (a person) to give in to pressure

the corrupt governor was driven out of office

Synonyms & Similar Words

• forcing
• coercing
• compelling
• obliging
• obligating
• pressuring
• constraining
• pressing
• dragooning
• making
• impressing
• sandbagging
• blackmailing
• muscling
• impelling
• intimidating
• blackjacking
• bullying
• dragging
• threatening
• bulldozing
• browbeating
• terrorizing
• twisting one's arm
• cowing
• hectoring
• shaming
• badgering
• harassing
• menacing
• hounding
• high-pressuring

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• permitting
• letting
• allowing
• moving
• talking (into)
• arguing
• inducing
• winning (over)
• satisfying
• prevailing (on or upon)
• convincing
• persuading

5

as in activating

to cause to function

machinery driven by waterpower

Synonyms & Similar Words

• activating
• triggering
• sparking
• moving
• powering
• fueling
• generating
• starting
• running
• pushing
• charging
• igniting
• actuating
• setting off
• provoking
• touching off
• firing
• turning on
• cranking (up)
• electrifying
• switching
• launching
• fuelling
• energizing
• stimulating
• tripping
• accelerating
• discharging
• releasing
• recharging
• turning over
• exciting
• kicking over
• inciting
• reactivating
• arousing
• instigating
• quickening
• catalyzing
• vitalizing
• stirring up
• jump-starting
• kick-starting
• stepping up
• speeding (up)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cutting
• killing
• checking
• stopping
• cutting out
• braking
• shutting off
• sticking
• turning off
• arresting
• stalling
• cutting off
• halting
• jamming
• drawing up
• slowing
• deactivating
• suppressing
• repressing
• decelerating
• stunting

6

as in moving

to set or keep in motion

this motor drives the gears, which then turn the shaft

Synonyms & Similar Words

• moving
• activating
• propelling
• working
• actuating
• impelling
• triggering
• stimulating
• raising
• motivating
• provoking
• inciting
• fomenting
• tripping
• fermenting
• stirring (up)
• abetting
• whipping (up)
• setting off
• exciting
• galvanizing
• instigating
• firing (up)
• rousing
• arousing
• inflaming
• inspiring
• enflaming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• controlling
• checking
• regulating
• restraining
• containing
• curbing
• inhibiting
• constraining
• bridling
• reining (in)

7

as in travelling

to proceed or move quickly

the runner drove past the finish line and then came to a dead stop

Synonyms & Similar Words

• travelling
• speeding
• traveling
• racing
• flying
• rushing
• hurrying
• trotting
• scurrying
• chasing
• zipping
• jumping
• running
• buzzing
• scooting
• blowing
• darting
• blasting
• stepping
• zooming
• dashing
• tearing
• ramming
• shooting
• motoring
• ripping
• bowling
• scuttling
• jogging
• hustling
• whirling
• bolting
• blazing
• barreling
• careening
• careering
• hurling
• rocketing
• hurtling
• humping
• bundling
• haring
• hastening
• bustling
• whisking
• coursing
• breezing
• jetting
• galloping
• belting
• rustling
• nipping
• cracking (on)
• pelting
• barrelling
• highballing
• bombing
• beating it
• cannonballing
• hying
• hieing
• accelerating
• flitting
• getting a move on
• making tracks
• stepping on it
• shaking a leg
• sprinting
• scampering
• whizzing
• scudding
• hotfooting (it)
• streaking
• scuffling
• stampeding
• overtaking
• outrunning
• quickening
• beetling
• outpacing
• stepping out
• outstripping
• catching up
• beelining
• fast-forwarding
• arrowing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• creeping
• crawling
• poking
• dragging
• lingering
• hanging (around or out)
• lagging
• poking
• strolling
• dawdling
• loitering
• shuffling
• sauntering
• ambling
• dallying
• plodding
• lumbering
• decelerating
• tarrying
• slowing (down or up)
• dillydallying

Examples of driving in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

This non-driving person is entirely befuddled by such matters. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 21 June 2022

Other roads, however, like many of the passes in southern Colorado, require significantly more driving experience. —Outside Online, 15 June 2020

Free-flowing, individual globs of cheese should be easy enough to grab with your non-driving hand on the way home, not clumped together like Mount Curd. —Daniel Higgins, USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2022

After Brown missed his own driving layup attempt with just over 6 seconds left, Middleton got the rebound. —Steve Megargee, ajc, 11 June 2021