as in to fidget
to make jerky or restless movements
the toddler squirmed the whole time we were in the waiting room
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in squirming
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of squirm
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
That kind of thing makes a checker squirm.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
With net in hand, the future microbial geochemist dredged up seaweed and mud squirming with snails, crab larvae and other small invertebrates.
—Laura Poppick, Quanta Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squirm
Verb
Even the normally surefire element of a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, with its blasts of dissonance pumping up the squirm factor, adds to the heavy-going effect of a movie that seems to go out of its way to be grating.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
That kind of thing makes a checker squirm.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan stage and shoot said home invasion like a Jacques Tati sequence — that is to say, from an amused, ironic distance that watches humans squirm and scramble without intervention.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
With net in hand, the future microbial geochemist dredged up seaweed and mud squirming with snails, crab larvae and other small invertebrates.
—Laura Poppick, Quanta Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squirm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squirm
Verb
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Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
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Notice: are people fidgeting, looking at their hands, or rolling their eyes?—
Anne Sugar,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Her hand twitched from the heat.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
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Any dairy farmer can tell you that biting flies are a pestilent scourge for cattle herds, which is why one so often sees cows throwing their heads, stamping their feet, flicking their tails, and twitching their skin—desperately trying to shake off the nasty creatures.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Throughout the writhing and the screaming, Julia’s fortitude wears down a defiant Davina, whose history with Lovat feeds the moment.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This 6-quart Dutch oven is just the right size for baking homemade sourdough or tossing the ingredients together to make your best chili recipe.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
9 Oct. 2025
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No one is better built than Leavy, a crafty veteran sportswriter, for between-innings repartee, wry asides, and tossed-off ideas for improving her beloved sport—and maybe even keeping its ever-looming obsolescence at bay for another decade or three.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, often followed by slurred speech.—
Vanessa Etienne,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Sounds like the plot of a tear-jerking movie, no?—
David Oliver,
USA Today,
7 Oct. 2025
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Travis jerked open the door and slid on his butt down a wing that was on fire.—
Gillian Telling,
PEOPLE,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Sizing is especially important with slip-on shoes to ensure your foot doesn’t wiggle around.—
Rebecca Shinners,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Oct. 2025
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One 14 month old tester happily clapped and wiggled along to the songs—a feature that can be adjusted as needed.—
Pamela Brill,
Parents,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Now scientists have found that, with a little fiddling, the feathers can be adjusted to turn flashes of light into laser beams.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Aug. 2025
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Life’s hard enough, and if facial fiddling is music to your ears, have at it.—
Valerie Monroe,
Allure,
21 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Squirm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squirm. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
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