1
as in exploited
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means
the con man would slyly manipulate the emotions of his marks in order to win their sympathy and trust
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in managed
to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently
spin doctors manipulating the data to make it seem more favorable to their preferred candidates
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in negotiated
to plan out usually with subtle skill or care
manipulated the schedule of presidential primaries so that the choice of the party elders would win the nomination
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in engineered
Related Words
Dissimilar 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 manipulated
Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
But all of it had been manipulated.
—Felipe Schrieberg, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Dort, whose power is setting fire through his fingertips, shoots flame at the bird, which is manipulated by Davinci magic and designed to fly through the sky.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
Mizuhara, who manipulated Ohtani’s bank records and illegally used Ohtani’s credit cards, was also ordered to pay nearly $17 million in restitution to Ohtani.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 29 Aug. 2025
There are four off days before the end of the season, but those can only be manipulated so much.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
The White House has disputed those figures, and the Justice Department has opened an inquiry into whether the district’s crime data has been manipulated to appear lower.
—Nik Popli, Time, 26 Aug. 2025
The very flow of the Mississippi River, which had been manipulated via a careful lock system to follow a course intended to prevent flooding, perennially threatened to overrun its banks.
—Jeanie Riess, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2025
Many of the administration’s assaults have been openly political—its leaders have repeatedly criticized American research as riddled with problematic ideologies, and claimed that the Biden administration manipulated science for its own purposes.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 23 Aug. 2025
Adjective
In the area there are multiple objects that can be manipulated to cause a distraction — a feature that will be very familiar to fans of the IO Interactive’s Hitman series.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025
But all of it had been manipulated.
—Felipe Schrieberg, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Dort, whose power is setting fire through his fingertips, shoots flame at the bird, which is manipulated by Davinci magic and designed to fly through the sky.
—Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
Mizuhara, who manipulated Ohtani’s bank records and illegally used Ohtani’s credit cards, was also ordered to pay nearly $17 million in restitution to Ohtani.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 29 Aug. 2025
There are four off days before the end of the season, but those can only be manipulated so much.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
The White House has disputed those figures, and the Justice Department has opened an inquiry into whether the district’s crime data has been manipulated to appear lower.
—Nik Popli, Time, 26 Aug. 2025
The very flow of the Mississippi River, which had been manipulated via a careful lock system to follow a course intended to prevent flooding, perennially threatened to overrun its banks.
—Jeanie Riess, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2025
Many of the administration’s assaults have been openly political—its leaders have repeatedly criticized American research as riddled with problematic ideologies, and claimed that the Biden administration manipulated science for its own purposes.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 23 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manipulated
Verb
-
Critics warn that such emotional connections could be exploited commercially, turning intimacy into a product.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Google has issued a critical warning for all Android users, confirming that two separate vulnerabilities have been exploited in the wild.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
By Sunday evening, the fire crew managed to contain 14% of this wildfire.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
In previous years, a private consultant managed the grant distribution process.—
Claudia Levens,
jsonline.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The deal was negotiated between Signature Entertainment’s Acquisitions Executive Max Hart and Kinology’s CEO Grégoire Melin.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Participation alone seems to be the end goal, the assemblage of a cacophony of voices without any avenues to interrogate the way power is shared or negotiated in collective spaces.—
Kate Wagner,
Curbed,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Boeing previously admitted that two of its 737 MAX flight technical pilots deceived the Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft evaluation group about an aircraft part known as MCAS that affected the flight control system of the Boeing 737 MAX.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Sep. 2025
-
While many followers recognized the scam early on, some were deceived and suffered financial loss.—
Tianwei Zhang,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Butler's sister-in-law baked a beautiful red velvet cake and a close friend handled music, hair and more.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
-
The visiting bench complained that Barca’s Kika Nazareth had handled the ball, but the referee dismissed their appeal.—
Laia Cervelló Herrero,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This on-the-edge-of-death thriller appears to deliver on every front—from the ever-alluring Fan Bingbing who lends a cool authority Neeson’s stoic presence, to the set pieces engineered to make your palms sweat, to the thread of grief and trauma that gives the action some ballast.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Working closely with Perfect Game’s Tournament Operations team, BatWraps engineered its wraps to meet all bat-use requirements.—
Sportico Staff,
Sportico.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The company in 2020 pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated ice-cream products and agreed to pay a fine over the outbreak.—
Dylan Tokar,
WSJ,
2 Feb. 2023
-
And while most of those overdoses involved the illicit synthetic opioid fentanyl, experts say that an adulterated and contaminated drug supply is also leading to deaths.—
Nadia Kounang,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2022
Verb
-
Goalkeeping concerns over Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir have perhaps been addressed with the addition of Senne Lammens, but the 23-year-old Belgian is relatively unproven at the highest level having made just 93 career appearances.—
Jack Bantock,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Lugo addressed his rough patch with The Star and vowed to work through his current skid.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manipulated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manipulated. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share