slither

verb

slith·​er ˈsli-t͟hər 

slithered; slithering; slithers

intransitive verb

1

: to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake

transitive verb

: to cause to slide

Synonyms of slither

• snake
• crawl
• creep
• slide

Examples of slither in a Sentence

The snake slithered through the garden.

To get under the porch, I lay on my stomach and slithered like a snake.

She slithered quietly into the room.

He slithered his hand around her waist.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Grammy-winning artist later reclaimed the slithering serpent as one of the key visual elements of her follow-up album, Reputation. —Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Jan. 2026

But best are moonless nights, when shimmering whorls of the Milky Way fill the night and desert creatures emerge to crawl and slither the dunes. —Anna Zacharias, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Jan. 2026

My back resembled a winding river or slithering snake. —Kimberly Zapata, Parents, 4 Jan. 2026

What in the snake-slithering 'Reputation' is going on? —Bryan West, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English slideren, from Old English slidrian, frequentative of slīdan to slide

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for slither

• cither
• dither
• hither
• ither
• thither
• whither
• zither

Kids Definition

slither

verb

slith·​er ˈslit͟h-ər 

1

: to slide or cause to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake