wiggle room

noun

Synonyms of wiggle roomnext
: leeway, latitude
a contract with wiggle room for further negotiations

Examples of wiggle room in a Sentence

The salesman has some wiggle room to reduce the price of the car. the language of the contract is vague and leaves too much wiggle room
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The Montana Secretary of State’s office tells Semafor that there’s no wiggle room if Democratic Senate candidate Alani Bankhead drops out of the race in the next two weeks. Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 29 July 2026 Leave wiggle room for complications by scheduling meetings 10 minutes in advance in case of technological issues or traffic. Lisa Stardust, Vogue, 26 July 2026 Syre’s solution allows for 10 percent of composition to be non-polyester, affording designers wiggle room to add in some other content such as spandex. Sarah Jones, Footwear News, 21 July 2026 Still, some critics have expressed concern there may be enough wiggle room in the ordinance language to cut down more trees than some would like. Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 16 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for wiggle room

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wiggle room was in 1965

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wiggle room.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wiggle%20room. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster