PARASITES Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

parasites

noun

plural of parasite

as in leeches

a person who is supported by or seeks support from another without making an adequate return a parasite who lived in the family's basement and refused to get a job or pay rent

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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 parasites The Cockroach movement began as an online satirical campaign this summer after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young people to parasites. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026 Continue reading … BROKEN COVENANT — Javier Milei blasts UN as 'useless' den of 'fatally arrogant parasites' in raucous speech. — FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026 Analyzing mosquito waste showed the presence of viruses along with other parasites. — Devika Rao, TheWeek, 23 Sep. 2026 Two species of sea spider—one that views the world through red eyes, and another crawling with parasites. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 23 Sep. 2026 Under this theory, organisms figured out how to turn genes off to get these unruly genetic parasites under control. — Jake Buehler, Quanta Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026 These birds are always injured, sick, full of parasites and in need of intensive rehabilitation when rescued. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 19 Sep. 2026 The final step is ultraviolet disinfection, which uses high-intensity ultraviolet light to kill or inactivate viruses and parasites, such as giardia. — Piper Heath, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026 The fish, having been medicated by this point, would have weakened immune systems unable to protect them against parasites. — John Donegan Long Beach Post, Arkansas Online, 15 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for parasites

Noun

The lightning-fast process leeches out flavor and compromises textures, and can produce bland, mushy results.

— Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 June 2026
The fact is that leeches are relished by everything from walleyes and bass to trout and all the panfish.

— Byron W. Dalrymple, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2026

Definition of leeches

Noun

Meanwhile, some of the same areas that are closed to bottom trawling for the protection of coral, sponges, crab and other marine life are open to pelagic trawlers.

— Annika Hammerschlag, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
While melamine sponges are certainly effective cleaning tools, they are also considered an abrasive material and can leave fine scratches all across your stainless steel appliances.

— Kate Van Pelt, The Spruce, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of sponges

Noun

Hookworms are freeloaders that live at the host’s expense inside their gut, drinking about two drops of blood per day.

— Jay Kakade August 05, Refractor, 5 Aug. 2026
The wide-open scam enriched Haitian freeloaders as Bonheur personally netted a million bucks in just two years after Joe Biden rang the dinner bell for every grifter in the Third World.

— Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 7 July 2026

Definition of freeloaders

Noun

Crosby can… um… provide funny reaction shots when henchmen get killed!

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
One of the villain’s henchmen was a small, shaggy blue creature with a long drooping snout and a sour expression that lived in a cigar box.

— Niranjana Rajalakshmi, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of henchmen

Noun

He’s surrounded by hangers-on, speaks with an oblique, affectless wisdom, and is named Harlow (rearrange the letters).

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
In late August, the hotel turns into a red-carpet event for celebrities, stars of the silver screen, and various hangers-on at the Venice Film Festival to which the Excelsior is inexorably linked, now enjoying its 10th decade.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of hangers-on

Noun

Ever since Bram Stoker popularized Count Dracula as a gothic figure of fantasy, the word vampire has been synonymous with undead bloodsuckers who vanish in a puff of smoke in the morning light (if not dazzle a little in the sunshine).

— Mike McRae August 25, New Atlas, 26 Aug. 2026
These bloodsuckers can carry several potentially severe diseases, and shifting species ranges mean Lake County has a growing variety of ticks, said county Health Department Ecological Services Program Coordinator Alana Bartolai.

— Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026

Definition of bloodsuckers

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“Parasites.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parasites. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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noun

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