caressing

verb

Definition of caressingnext
present participle of caress
as in stroking
to touch or handle in a tender or loving manner gently caressed her hair

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Browse Nearby Entries

caressing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Caressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caressing. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on caressing

Nglish: Translation of caressing for Spanish Speakers

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

'Canceled' or 'cancelled'?

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

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

'In Vino Veritas' and Other Latin Phrases to Live By

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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 Word Game 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?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
clapperboard-popcorn
Hollywood Lingo Quiz Are you a showbiz whiz?
See All