Thesaurus results for GESTICULATING

gesticulating

verb

present participle of gesticulate

as in gesturing

to move your arms and hands especially when speaking in an angry or emotional way He was gesticulating wildly during his speech.

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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 gesticulating Instead of ripping off his shirt, or wildly gesticulating, McTominay ran to the edge of the pitch with his hands facing down and his lips pursed. — Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 16 June 2026 Imagery was multiplied to tell a story—the stentorian Mussolini, with his upraised chin and bald head, delivering a speech, or Hitler, with his toothbrush mustache, gesticulating. — Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026 Video footage of the incident obtained by KQED appears to show the women gesticulating and shouting at the correctional staff before the officers form a line and deploy pepper spray and mace grenades at the group. — William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2026 The video, without sound, shows the three of them gesticulating at each other before the 13-year-old in red pants appears to charge David and stab him. — Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2026 In preschool, he was given a wordless role as Farmer McGregor in a school production of Peter Rabbit and began hamming it up, counting the missing tomatoes and gesticulating at his nemesis rabbit. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026 Their remaining team-mates applauded the away enclosure, but many in that section were gesticulating their disdain. — Roshane Thomas, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gesticulating

Verb

Lavie appeared in a jailhouse-yellow shirt and blue pants and looked distressed throughout the hearing, nodding and gesturing to friends at times.

— Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026
The novel also alludes to contemporary examples of violence in the country’s current, democratic system, gesturing to the ways in which brutality persists in Brazil as state and corporate power continue to commit violence with near impunity.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 July 2026

Definition of gesturing

Verb

When the Kirk family attorney spoke about how Charlie Kirk stood for the opposite of hate, Erika Kirk was crying and nodding along.

— Andi Babineau, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
For a drink that leans more directly into its surroundings, the Olivera Mallorquina combines Suau, a gin distilled on the island, with an olive lemonade nodding to one of Mallorca's signature crops.

— Rachel Dube, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of nodding

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gesticulates

gesticulating

gesticulation

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“Gesticulating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gesticulating. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of gesticulating

verb

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