SQUIGGLE Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

squiggle

verb

ˈskwi-gəl

Definition of squiggle

as in to twitch

to make jerky or restless movements a pediatrician's waiting room full of squiggling toddlers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to scribble

to write or draw hastily or carelessly there are some illegible notes squiggled in the margins of the old book

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 squiggle The salamanders are still squiggling commas inside them. — Nathan Rott, NPR, 27 May 2026 The cake is gingery, light and moist, squiggled with thick cream cheese frosting. — Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 15 Sep. 2025 The six dancers in bright blues and greens (a seventh, originally Brown, appears at the beginning and the end) ripple and squiggle through space, intersecting and occasionally aligning, ricocheting and weaving. — Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 1 May 2025 Breaking water in the morning and shoulders squiggling free in the dark of evening. — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for squiggle

Recent Examples of Synonyms for squiggle

Verb

Just then, Chee Meng’s fishing rod twitched, and the line began to run out.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of twitch

Verb

The messages, scribbled on whatever scrap of paper a sender could find, often featured misspellings and shaky penmanship; many older residents of rural areas did not know how to read or write well, if at all.

— Jordan Salama, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
His father, Bongo, recorded with artists on Houston label Swishahouse, while Toliver began scribbling rhymes in school notebooks and making rudimentary recordings through a PlayStation microphone.

— Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of scribble

Verb

Following this concern, 55% of parents said their top concern was their child’s ability to complete multistep tasks such as homework while 45% of parents cited fidgeting.

— Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Aug. 2026
The current boom is driven by Gen Z’s openness about mental health, social-commerce virality on TikTok and Etsy, and a broader nervous-system regulation movement that treats fidgeting as a legitimate coping tool rather than a bad habit.

— Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of fidget

Verb

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and xAI’s Elon Musk scrawled their names in erratic cursive.

— Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026
The show is arranged in eight parts and begins with a large white wall at the entrance with the title of the show scrawled in RM’s handwriting.

— Christine Terrisse, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of scrawl

Verb

That woman was truly unbothered, a term tossed around online, but the literal act of not being bothered is impossible for most people beyond the quirkiest, like my onetime neighbor, or maybe Fran Lebowitz.

— Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 12 Oct. 2026
After a promising start to the potential game-tying drive in the extra frame, Tagovailoa would toss an interception to Baltimore All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton to seal Atlanta's fate.

— Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of toss

Verb

Intravenous lines can fail for several reasons, like a needle and catheter not being properly placed in a vein or wiggling out of place — or a vein rupturing and letting blood and IV fluid leak into tissue surrounding the IV site.

— Rebecca Boone, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Upon closer examination, beats like the ones that Fleming’s team described turned out to reflect not quantum coherence, but a resonance between wiggling molecular bonds.

— Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of wiggle

Browse Nearby Words

squiffed

squiggle

squiggled

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Style

“Squiggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squiggle. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of squiggle

verb

Example Sentences

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Synonyms of squiggle

verb

Example Sentences

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Articles Related to squiggle

9 Words from P.G. Wodehouse

Cite this Entry

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