as in wiggly
making jerky or restless movements
after a while, the little girl got wriggly and had to be taken outside to the church vestibule
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Recent Examples of wriggly
Medieval Christians looked at the very same phenomenon and imagined it as a reflection of divine will, the transformation of a wriggly worm into a flying jewel an earthly reminder of the transfiguration of Jesus to Christ.
—
Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wriggly
Adjective
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At the edges of the channel, near the walls, Rout and Lim’s team saw rapid fluctuations of molecules — those were the wiggly nucleoporins.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
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The team then carefully lowers Caterpillar into the water, where the mother rushes to scoop her pup up as the two share a wiggly embrace.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
13 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Conductors often fetishize the opening bars of this opera, their squirmy alternation of silence and piquant dissonance.—
Justin Davidson,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2026
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Adding to the action is a colorful, squirmy worm that will get kids laughing and moving.—
Pamela Brill,
Parents,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Even Jason notices the guests are fidgety.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
24 Feb. 2026
-
The two go toe-to-toe in power and precision, but the Breville’s intuitive assembly is a massive improvement on the Cuisinart’s notoriously fidgety and fussy locking mechanisms.—
Noah Kaufman,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Robinson is a twitchy slot receiver with refined routes and quick feet in and out of his breaks.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 2026
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Keith and Chantal Tkachuk were in the stands, where Keith had noticed his sons were looking twitchy just before puck drop.—
Becky Sullivan,
NPR,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Virginia made one last push, cutting TCU’s lead to 65-55, but the Horned Frogs quickly delivered the knockout blow as Miles knocked down a 3 and Suarez hit sophomore center Clara Silva for a layup to end Virginia’s hopes of another upset.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Mar. 2026
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In the video of the altercation, which was broken into clips and cross-posted across social media platforms, Peters and the woman are hanging out when Lentz arrives, upset.—
Emily St. Martin,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Her advice to anyone who is worried about giant hogweed is to take steps to identify it.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
26 Mar. 2026
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So, should human artists be worried?—
Stephy Chung,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wriggly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggly. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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