STING: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for STING?

Need another word that means the same as “sting”? Find 89 synonyms and 30 related words for “sting” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Sting” are: bite, insect bite, pang, sting operation, stinging, bunco, bunco game, bunko, bunko game, con, con game, confidence game, confidence trick, flimflam, hustle, prick, wound, injury, smarting, smart, tingling, tingle, pricking, heartache, heartbreak, agony, torture, torment, hurt, pain, anguish, distress, desolation, misery, sharpness, severity, edge, pointedness, asperity, pungency, acerbity, acidity, tartness, swindle, fraud, piece of deception, trickery, cheat, bit of sharp practice, twinge, burn, stick, injure, be painful, be irritated, be sore, ache, upset, make miserable, cut to the quick, sear, grieve, mortify, provoke, goad, incite, spur, prod, rouse, stir up, drive, move, motivate, galvanize, stimulate, defraud, fleece, gull

Sting as a Noun

Definitions of "Sting" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “sting” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• A carefully planned operation, typically one involving deception.
• A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property.
• A painful wound caused by the thrust of an insect's stinger into skin.
• A small sharp-pointed organ at the end of the abdomen of bees, wasps, ants, and scorpions, capable of inflicting a painful or dangerous wound by injecting poison.
• Operation designed to catch a person committing a criminal act.
• A wound from a sting.
• A mental pain or distress.
• A kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung.
• A sharp tingling or burning pain or sensation.
• A hurtful quality or effect.
• Any of a number of minute hairs or other organs of plants, jellyfishes, etc., which inject a poisonous or irritating fluid when touched.

Synonyms of "Sting" as a noun (49 Words)

acerbity	A rough and bitter manner. Their relationship was built on a certain mutual acerbity.
acidity	Street name for lysergic acid diethylamide. The increased acidity of rainfall.
agony	Extreme physical or mental suffering. His last agony.
anguish	Extreme mental distress. Philip gave a cry of anguish.
asperity	Harshness of manner. The asperity of northern winters.
bit of sharp practice	A unit of measurement of information (from binary + digit); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states.
bite	An instance of a fish taking the bait. Percy s dog had given her a nasty bite.
bunco	A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property. A bunco artist.
bunco game	Your occupation or line of work.
bunko	A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property.
bunko game	The game equipment needed in order to play a particular game.
cheat	An act of cheating a fraud or deception.
con	A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property. The Charter is a glossy public relations con.
con game	A swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property.
confidence game	A feeling of trust (in someone or something.
confidence trick	A feeling of trust (in someone or something.
desolation	A state of complete emptiness or destruction. In choked desolation she watched him leave.
distress	A state of physical strain, especially difficulty in breathing. To his distress he saw that she was trembling.
edge	The outside limit of an object or area or surface; a place farthest away from the center of something. They pushed themselves to the edge of exhaustion.
flimflam	A confidence trick. Pseudo intellectual flimflam.
fraud	Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage. Mediums exposed as tricksters and frauds.
heartache	Emotional anguish or grief, typically caused by the loss or absence of someone loved. A good friend understands your heartaches as well as your joys.
heartbreak	Intense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death. An unforgettable tale of joy and heartbreak.
hurt	Feelings of mental or physical pain. Rolling properly into a fall minimizes hurt.
hustle	A state of great activity. The hustle and bustle of the big cities.
injury	An instance of being injured. Compensation for injury to feelings.
insect bite	Small air-breathing arthropod.
misery	A feeling of intense unhappiness. She was exhausted by her misery and grief.
pain	A somatic sensation of acute discomfort. She s a pain.
pang	A mental pain or distress. A pang of conscience.
piece of deception	An artistic or literary composition.
pointedness	The property of a shape that tapers to a sharp tip. The pointedness of his sarcasm was unmistakable.
pricking	The act of puncturing with a small point.
pungency	Wit having a sharp and caustic quality. He commented with typical pungency.
severity	Extreme plainness. Sentences should reflect the severity of the crime.
sharpness	A strong odor or taste property. The sharpness of strange spices.
smart	Intelligence; acumen. Sorrow is the effect of smart and smart the effect of faith.
smarting	The fact or sensation of feeling a sharp stinging pain. Ammonia can cause smarting of the eyes and breathing difficulties.
sting operation	A kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung.
stinging	A kind of pain; something as sudden and painful as being stung. He felt the stinging of nettles.
swindle	The act of swindling by some fraudulent scheme. He is mixed up in a 10 million insurance swindle.
tartness	The taste experience when vinegar or lemon juice is taken into the mouth.
tingle	A somatic sensation as from many tiny prickles. A tingle of anticipation.
tingling	A somatic sensation as from many tiny stings.
torment	A feeling of intense annoyance caused by being tormented. The journey must have been a torment for them.
torture	Intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain. The torture of political prisoners.
trickery	Verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way. The dealer resorted to trickery.
wound	The act of inflicting a wound. The new crisis has opened old wounds.

Usage Examples of "Sting" as a noun

• She felt the sharp sting of tears behind her eyelids.
• A nettle-like plant with no sting.
• A wasp or bee sting.
• He felt the stinging of nettles.
• She smiled to take the sting out of her words.
• The police conducted a sting operation.
• Five blackmailers were jailed last week after they were snared in a police sting.
• I recalled the sting of his betrayal.
• The sting of death.

Sting as a Verb

Definitions of "Sting" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “sting” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous.
• Swindle or exorbitantly overcharge (someone.
• Deliver a sting to.
• Cause a sharp or stinging pain or discomfort.
• Provoke someone to do (something) by causing annoyance or offence.
• Cause a stinging pain.
• Feel or cause to feel a sharp tingling or burning pain or sensation.
• Cause an emotional pain, as if by stinging.
• Wound or pierce with a sting.
• (typically of something said) hurt or upset (someone.

Synonyms of "Sting" as a verb (40 Words)

ache	Suffer from a continuous dull pain. She looked so tired that my heart ached for her.
be irritated	Represent, as of a character on stage.
be painful	Form or compose.
be sore	Be identical to; be someone or something.
bite	Be very bad, unpleasant, or unfortunate. Gunny invariably tried to bite her.
burn	Burn at the stake. Her forehead was burning and her throat ached.
cheat	Gain an advantage over or deprive of something by using unfair or deceitful methods; defraud. She cheated death in a spectacular crash.
cut to the quick	Be able to manage or manage successfully.
defraud	Illegally obtain money from (someone) by deception. He used a second identity to defraud the bank of thousands of pounds.
distress	Bring into difficulties or distress especially financial hardship. I didn t mean to distress you.
drive	Be licensed or competent to drive a motor vehicle. He drives a bread truck.
fleece	Cover as if with a fleece. The sky was half blue half fleeced with white clouds.
galvanize	Shock or excite (someone) into taking action. Galvanized into action.
goad	Goad or provoke as by constant criticism. He was trying to goad her into a fight.
grieve	Feel intense sorrow. His behavior grieves his mother.
gull	Make a fool or dupe of.
hurt	Hurt the feelings of. She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests.
incite	Urge on; cause to act. They conspired to incite riots.
injure	Hurt the feelings of. He injured his back helping the girl.
make miserable	Create or design, often in a certain way.
mortify	(of flesh) be affected by gangrene or necrosis. They wish to return to heaven by mortifying the flesh.
motivate	Request (something) and present facts and arguments in support of one’s request. He said he would motivate funds to upgrade the food stalls.
move	Have a turn make one s move in a game. He justly moves one s derision.
pain	Cause mental or physical pain to. Her legs had been paining her.
provoke	Evoke or provoke to appear or occur. Rachel refused to be provoked.
rouse	Cause to be agitated excited or roused. Rouse the beer as the hops are introduced.
sear	Burn or scorch the surface of (something) with a sudden, intense heat. A sharp pang of disappointment seared her.
smart	(of a wound or part of the body) feel or cause a sharp stinging pain. Her legs were scratched and smarting.
spur	Strike with a spur. Governments cut interest rates to spur demand.
stick	Come or be in close contact with stick or hold together and resist separation. Stick your thumb in the crack.
stimulate	Raise levels of physiological or nervous activity in (the body or any biological system. The women are given fertility drugs to stimulate their ovaries.
stir up	Affect emotionally.
swindle	Use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions. He was said to have swindled 62 5 million from the state owned cement industry.
tingle	Cause a stinging or tingling sensation. A standing ovation that tingled your spine.
torment	Torment emotionally or mentally. The children tormented the stuttering teacher.
twinge	Squeeze tightly between the fingers. Stop the exercises if the tummy twinges.
upset	Form metals with a swage. The dam will upset the ecological balance.
wound	Inflict a wound on. The sergeant was seriously wounded.

Usage Examples of "Sting" as a verb

• Stung by her mockery, Frank hung his head.
• A nettle stings if you brush it lightly.
• Her eyes stung as if she might cry again.
• He was stung into action by an article in the paper.
• He was stung by a jellyfish.
• I had to buy some boxer shorts at the last minute and got stung for £42.50!
• The brandy stung his throat.

Associations of "Sting" (30 Words)

adhere	Follow through or carry out a plan without deviation. The account adhered firmly to fact.
bee	An insect of a large group to which the honeybee belongs including many solitary as well as social kinds. A sewing bee.
excitation	The action of exciting or the state of being excited; excitement. Two parallel coils with opposing excitation windings.
gadfly	A person who annoys or criticizes others in order to provoke them into action. Always a gadfly he attacked intellectual orthodoxies.
hornet	Large stinging paper wasp.
hurt	Hurt the feelings of. Ow You re hurting me.
nag	A person who nags someone. He s always nagging at her for staying out late.
nudge	Prod (someone) gently with one’s elbow in order to attract attention. She appreciated the nudge to her memory.
pang	A sudden sharp pain or painful emotion. A pang of conscience.
pest	A serious sometimes fatal infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal. The tomato plant attracts a pest called whitefly.
pierce	Make a hole in (the ears or other part of the body) so as to wear jewellery in them. They were seeking to pierce the anti ballistic missile defences.
pin	An attack on a piece or pawn which is thereby pinned. He pinned the badge on to his lapel.
ping	Hit with a pinging noise. The ping of the oven timer.
poke	Poke or thrust abruptly. She gave the fire a poke.
slot	Be placed or able to be placed into a slot. He followed the deer s slot over the soft turf to the edge of the trees.
spiny	Having spines. A spiny problem.
stab	A wound made by stabbing. A stitch stabbed at her side.
stake	A pole or stake set up to mark something as the start or end of a race track. Stake out the path.
stick	Stick to firmly. Stick drawings of a man and girl.
stimulation	Encouragement of something to make it develop or become more active. Ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization.
thatch	Cover with thatch. The rain drummed noisily on the thatch above her head.
thorn	A thorny bush shrub or tree especially a hawthorn. He s a thorn in my flesh.
thorny	Causing distress, difficulty, or trouble. A thorny problem for our team to solve.
titillate	Arouse (someone) to interest or mild excitement, especially through sexually suggestive images or words. The press are paid to titillate the public.
twinge	Feel a sudden sharp, local pain. Twinges of conscience.
wasp	A solitary winged insect with a narrow waist mostly distantly related to the social wasps and including many parasitic kinds.
wattle	Make enclose or fill up with wattle.
wedge	A shot made with a wedge. The wedge of horsemen crashed forward.