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Writhe wound its way to us from the Old English verb wrīthan, meaning “to twist,” and that ancestral meaning lives on in the word’s current uses, most of which have to do with twists of one kind or another. Among the oldest of these uses is the meaning “to twist into coils or folds,” but in modern use writhing is more often about the physical contortions of one suffering from debilitating pain or attempting to remove oneself from a tight grasp (as, say, a snake from a hawk’s talons). The word is also not infrequently applied to the twisting bodies of dancers. The closest relation of writhe in modern English lacks any of the painful connotations often present in writhe: wreath comes from Old English writha, which shares an ancestor with wrīthan.
Synonyms
Examples of writhe in a Sentence
Rob Reischel, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
Trump was building on a neurotic obsession about transgender kids that is alive and writhing in the right-wing and Republican fever swamp.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2024
Cities writhe with protests opposing a bloody overseas war.
—Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2024
Decker was injured and writhed in pain in the infield.
—Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for writhe 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'writhe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Writhe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/writhe. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
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