forming

verb

present participle of form
1
as in crystallizing
to take on a definite form my ideas on the subject are just starting to form

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in comprising
to be all the substance of this one sentence really forms the basis of your argument

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in producing
to bring into being by combining, shaping, or transforming materials formed the pot out of the clay

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in starting
to come into existence the new company formed from two smaller ones

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in developing
to come to have gradually I don't want you beginning skiers to form any bad habits

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 forming As a result, after each election, leaders of the larger parties seek to persuade smaller parties to join them in forming a governing coalition. — Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026 The work trucks continued on, but much of the Border Patrol force remained, forming a semicircle around the camp with Mexican state police closing the loop on the other side of the line. — Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2026 In Ditka’s third season, the Bears were forming into one of the great teams in the history of the league. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Oct. 2026 Isaias tied a 1905 storm for the latest-forming first hurricane of a season on record. — Christopher Davis, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2026 Mercury and retrograde Venus in your 12th House suggest some answers are still forming privately. — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 The hurricane formed late in the season Isaias developed more than four months into the Atlantic hurricane season and was one day short of tying a 121-year-old record for the area’s latest-forming hurricane. — R.j. Rico, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026 Among educators, a consensus is forming that small-group tutoring is one of the most effective ways to address achievement gaps. — Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 8 Oct. 2026 Such processes could create overdensities—regions so dense that spacetime collapsed in on itself, forming PBHs of a range of masses. — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forming
  1. crystallizing
  2. comprising
  3. producing
  4. starting
  5. developing
  6. connecting
  7. composing
  8. making
Verb
  • There was also a sense of celebration at completing five years of the three day, bi-annual event, which has been crystallizing and finding a sharper focus each season.
    — Mayu Saini, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Some fortunes, however, are already crystallizing into deeds.
    — Natalie Hoberman, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of crystallizing
Verb
  • The jury members, comprising eight men and four women, took their place in Courtroom 3 of Southwark Crown Court for the first time.
    — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The gallery’s New York flagship has been located on the Upper East Side since 2014, in a set of historic buildings comprising some 17,500 square feet that formerly housed the National Academy Museum.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of comprising
Verb
  • The three colors are mixed in different combinations and ratios, producing 16 different shades.
    — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Deep underground, iron-rich rocks could hold the key to producing hydrogen at a fraction of the cost of conventional fuels.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of producing
Verb
  • Moody's, citing PitchBook data, said private equity distributions dropped from more than 30% of starting net asset value in 2022 to about 12% today.
    — Hugh Leask, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Plasma will fully adopt the Wayland system and put support for starting new X11 sessions in Plasma to bed.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of starting
Verb
  • The atomic and process modeling done within developing LMR cells, said Theyyunni, required three times the compute capacity that modeling the combustion processes for a gasoline engine does.
    — John Voelcker, The Verge, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Peacock has been developing a reboot of another, Friday Night Lights.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of developing
Verb
  • Her trip also includes Fendi’s sponsorship of W Magazine’s WYouth launch party at Saddle Ranch on Thursday night, connecting the Croissant’s revival with a new generation of fashion consumers.
    — Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • On the one hand, there are the flow-state breakthroughs, the gratification of acclaim, the rush of connecting with an audience; on the other, the brutal sacrifices of time, money, and stability.
    — Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of connecting
Verb
  • Gash love composing songs whose intersecting lines set the entire mood of the song—jarring, dreamy, or nostalgic—in the style of art-house sampling.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Lyall pulled out his phone and began composing a message for Claude, the AI app from Anthropic.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of composing
Verb
  • Dogma25 is an initiative of recent Venice Golden Lion winner May el-Toukhy (Woman Unknown), who will be one of the five directors making films under its rules alongside directors Milad Alami, Annika Berg, Eklöf and Just.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
  • By the time Lee’s moved on to thanking his dad for not believing him, thereby giving him something to prove, an embarrassed Frances is making a quick run for the exit.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of making

Browse Nearby Words

formidable
forming
formless
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Forming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forming. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All