Synonyms of stretched

stretched 1 of 2

adjective

as in enlarged

Related Words

• enlarged
• padded
• magnified
• embellished
• exaggerated
• elaborated
• inflated
• embroidered
• overstated
• overplayed
• overdrawn
• overemphasized
• bloated
• overblown
• overdone
• hyperbolized
• hyped-up
• outsize
• unreasonable
• unreal
• unrealistic
• grandiose
• overweening
• preposterous

Dissimilar Words

• reasonable
• realistic

stretched

2 of 2

verb

past tense of stretch

1

as in exaggerated

to add to the interest of by including made-up details

it was stretching the truth to say she'd been in the movies: she was once an extra whose scene was cut in the final version

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exaggerated
• padded
• expanded
• colored
• enhanced
• embroidered
• embellished
• hyperbolized
• magnified
• elaborated (on)
• satirized
• emphasized
• stressed
• amplified
• enlarged (on or upon)
• hedged
• fleshed (out)
• overemphasized
• overstated
• gussied up
• caricatured
• played up
• overplayed
• dressed up
• fudged
• overdid
• overdrew

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• minimized
• understated
• belittled
• played down

2

as in pulled

to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure

I stretched a back muscle, and the pain is killing me

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulled
• damaged
• strained
• weakened
• bruised
• hurt
• wrenched
• racked
• taxed
• impaired
• battered
• wounded
• tore
• frayed
• harmed
• crippled
• mutilated
• mangled
• lamed

3

as in lengthened

to make longer

the time it would take to fix the car got stretched from three hours to two days when the part we needed had to be ordered

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lengthened
• extended
• increased
• prolonged
• elongated
• expanded
• outstretched
• dragged (out)
• enlarged
• protracted
• drew out
• thinned
• amplified
• attenuated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cut
• shortened
• reduced
• curtailed
• decreased
• diminished
• lessened
• cut back
• abbreviated
• abridged
• thickened

4

as in tried

to subject (a personal quality or faculty) to often excessive stress

your whining is stretching my patience to the limit

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tried
• pushed
• strained
• tested
• taxed
• got (to)
• annoyed
• bothered
• irritated
• demanded
• pressured
• pained
• harassed
• pressed
• importuned
• aggravated
• exasperated
• exacted
• gnawed (at)
• pestered
• vexed
• harried
• irked
• nettled
• riled
• grated
• peeved
• hassled
• agitated
• galled
• spited

5

as in tightened

to draw tight

if the canvas isn't properly stretched over the frame, there will be sagging over time

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tightened
• tensed
• tautened
• strained
• lengthened
• elongated
• extended
• constricted
• cinched

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• loosened
• slackened
• relaxed
• eased
• slacked

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of stretched

Adjective

Once activated, the Fe-SMA bars aim to shrink back to their pre-stretched shape. —Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 19 Feb. 2026

It’s formulated with calcium to promote new cell growth, adenosine to fill in wrinkles, collagen to maintain your skin’s density and thickness, elastin to restore stretched skin, and Vitamin D for rejuvenation. —Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 30 Jan. 2026

America’s health care system is straining under the twin pressures of an aging population and a stretched pool of health care providers. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2025

Despite this pullback, the stock still trades at a stretched nine times trailing revenue—well above its historical average of three times. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Verb

From the looming white-domed oven emerge the flakiest pies, feteer, built of gauzy layers of dough, pressed with ghee and stretched, then folded one inside another around your choice of filling. —Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026

The April 28 City Council meeting stretched into its eighth hour. —Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 10 May 2026

While there are plenty of Class A housing options being built for wealthy individuals who have aged out of living at home, other income groups will be stretched, Jared Rothkopf, a real estate attorney at Polsinelli who works on senior living deals nationwide, told Fortune. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 9 May 2026

Then-Deputy District Attorney Richard Sachs argued against setting Broderick free during that hearing, a daylong proceeding that stretched for more than 10 hours. —Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2026

The Canvas outage has stretched into a second day, leaving students and teachers in the Chicago and Illinois university systems scrambling amid the end of the spring semester. —Asal Rezaei, CBS News, 8 May 2026

Russell Lansford / Imagn Images On Saturday, a broken line of showers and thunderstorms stretched from the Gulf through the Carolinas. —Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 3 May 2026

Another excavator arrived, working from a temporary construction road that stretched into the water, and nudged its bucket against the whale in an effort to jostle the animal free. —Jessica Camille Aguirre, New Yorker, 2 May 2026

The game stretched into extra innings. —Peter Folan, Boston Herald, 2 May 2026