as in greedy
having or marked by an eager and often selfish desire especially for material possessions
a grasping person who would rather buy a car he didn't need than give a dime to charity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in understanding
to have a practical understanding of
he just doesn't grasp how important it is that he call when he'll be late
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clasping
to put one's arms around and press tightly
the departing soldier grasped his children a little closer than usual
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in holding
to reach for and take hold of by embracing with the fingers or arms
the attendant grasped my arm and steered me towards the door
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in knowing
to have a clear idea of
the emergency operator finally grasped what he was trying to tell her
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of grasping
CBS News, 26 Nov. 2025
The father, Fyodor Karamazov, is a grasping, lecherous, deceitful, and shameless widower.
—Karl Ove Knausgaard, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2025
Engineers still struggle to replicate a grasping human hand, or the hand-eye coordination of a human brain.
—Natan Linder, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The imperial Presidency: Designs on Greenland, promises to take back the Panama Canal, threats of tariffs on countries ranging from Colombia to Taiwan—how did a President who once pledged isolationism become so grasping?
—Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2025
Multiplied across numerous markets in every state, the LIHTC fuels more and more grasping for cash instead of reductions to make housing easier to create.
—Roger Valdez, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Unlike most other camp movies, this one isn’t about preserving and revering childhood, but the sloppy, grasping, wonderful transition to adulthood.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 May 2024
Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2026
After signing with the Broncos in 2025, he’s just been focused on grasping a newfound status as a captain.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 25 Dec. 2025
Pluck the small peaches off the branch by grasping a fruit’s stem firmly near the branch and twisting it off with a quick motion.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Dec. 2025
Sturridge’s hand shoots up from the murk, grasping the air and slapping the planks before his body follows.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Dec. 2025
By equipping a commercial prosthetic with pressure and proximity sensors and training an AI neural network on natural grasping movements, the team created a hand that grips more intuitively and securely.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 9 Dec. 2025
Enjoying Machu Picchu means grasping both its ancient pathways and modern regulations.
—Paul Jebara, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Dec. 2025
Friends and family will often counsel against making such a weighty decision in the midst of emotional turbulence, not grasping that a profound sense of misalignment is what is feeding the turbulence in the first place.
—James Marcus, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Still, Valentini managed to rise as a fashion authority for her talent in grasping gaps in the market and putting new names on the radar of Italian customers.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The grasping big toe also suggested this human relative spent more time in the trees.
—Verb
But Taylor, who studies how the internet interacts with culture, says the rise of vagueposting coincides with a public discontent with just how grasping social media has become.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for grasping
Adjective
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Carrey portrays Ebenezer Scrooge, a cantankerous, greedy old man visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve who show him the error of his ways.—
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The turning point in this contest, though, came when the Chiefs decided to get greedy on fourth-and-1 from their own 31-yard line.—
Verb
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The key to making the right decision is understanding all your options beforehand.—
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His perspective positions the next wave of transformation not around deeper analysis, but around autonomous action, systems capable of understanding situations, deciding optimal responses, and executing those responses in real time.—
Verb
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Flex your left knee at a 90-degree angle and place the rope around the mid-foot, clasping the rope with the right hand.—
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Next page, clasping hands with Schweitzer in her satin, white wedding dress with a rose bouquet.—
Verb
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Jeff Bezos holding the device high.—
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This loss had to be especially tough for the Jayhawks, considering a controversial holding call on KU changed the momentum of the game.—
Verb
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The couple, who did not grow up knowing one another because of estrangements in their families, faced criticism from both sets of parents for the union.—
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Another resident, Carolyn Reeves, said not knowing if the annexation would bring in commercial or residential development raises suspicion.—
Adjective
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The 23-year-old Shou, a lifelong Fremont resident, won out over hundreds of others eager to play 17-year-old Joe, a troubled San Gabriel Valley area high school student with schizophrenia whose distraught mom Irene (Liu, in a transformative performance) is dying of cancer.—
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Hosted by Variety’s Angelique Jackson and Marc Malkin, the pre-show will deliver exclusive access, must-see interviews and real-time coverage from the first spot on the carpet, serving as the ultimate destination for fans eager to experience the night unfold.—
Verb
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The custom column Ashi Studio dress, which took more than 300 hours to create, featured a hip-hugging silhouette and strappy neckline with eight different strands of crystals that draped over her shoulders.—
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In January 2025, Lane posted a photo on Instagram of himself hugging Layla and wishing her a happy birthday.—
Verb
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The simple and elegant dress was made to have a fluid silhouette that skimmed her body rather than tightly gripping it, letting the neckline do most of the talking.—
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In one of the larger fraud cases gripping the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Feeding Our Future scheme cost taxpayers nearly $250 million, after the program's director approved nonexistent meal services going to poor people.—
Cite this Entry
“Grasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grasping. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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