bristled

verb

past tense of bristle
1
as in buzzed
to be copiously supplied a recent college grad thrilled to be starting a new life in a city bristling with possibilities

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stormed
to express one's anger usually violently the man bristled at the accusation, and threatened to file a lawsuit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of bristled Federal immigration agents also have bristled at having their tactics recorded by FBI agents wearing body cameras, CNN has reported. — Holmes Lybrand, CNN Money, 14 July 2026 Herbst bristled at the idea that the existing buildings truly needed that many renovations to safely function as a city hall. — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026 China understands this reality as well as anyone and, like many countries, has bristled at this enormous concentration of power for decades. — Dewardric L. McNeal, CNBC, 28 June 2026 When his Peace Corps tour ended, Briscoe bristled at the idea of leaving. — ABC News, 10 June 2026 Use an old toothbrush or soft-bristled cleaning brush to scrub the caulk, being sure to get into hard-to-reach corners and edges. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 3 June 2026 But for years, many clinicians have bristled at the shifts to a centralized system, feeling their voices have been pushed to the side in favor of more corporate decision-making. — Jessica Bartlett — Boston Globe, STAT, 21 May 2026 Above the lobby of Alameda Theatre, Obama Shaw bristled with an unbridled confidence about his abilities. — Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 18 May 2026 Residents who spoke with the Associated Press expressed concerns about safety and public services but bristled at stereotypes about rampant crime. — Matt Brown, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bristled
  1. buzzed
  2. stormed
  3. burst
  4. raged
  5. hummed
  6. fumed
  7. bulged
  8. brimmed
Verb
  • Phones buzzed with warnings all night warning of flash floods in the morning.
    — Jesse Bedayn, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • In the 1970s and 80s, dirt bikes buzzed around its fragile landscape, creating erosion and noise.
    — Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 8 July 2026
Definition of buzzed
Verb
  • After residents in Nyakunde stormed a hospital to protest a woman’s death, aid teams have been seen fleeing remote hot spots for Bunia, leaving vulnerable communities with fewer protections.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2026
  • Even more drama followed when DeChambeau stormed off to the range.
    — Doug Ferguson, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026
Definition of stormed
Verb
  • Protesters burst in and take over news conference as Madison police identify man killed by officer a day earlier.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to burst and release their juices.
    — Laura Mclively, Mercury News, 23 July 2026
Definition of burst
Verb
  • In January 2025, as the LA wildfires raged, people placed bets on Polymarket, one of the leading prediction market platforms.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • These two characters have maybe two minutes of screentime between them, and yet a certain portion of the internet, and Elon Musk, have raged, gnashed teeth and howled to the wind about the way this denigrates a Greek classic.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of raged
Verb
  • The town's only hospital hummed with ambulances, burial teams and a steady stream of patients.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 21 July 2026
  • DeChambeau hummed and whistled and messed with the 15 or so reporters still waiting him out.
    — Brody Miller, New York Times, 17 July 2026
Definition of hummed
Verb
  • Cliff Johnsen, business agent for the Steamfitters Local 638 union, fumed.
    — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 9 July 2026
  • Both the defendants and courts fumed at this because, while attorney-client privilege survives death, this death killed the power of Boca Raton’s Lee Sarkin and Ocean Ridge’s Drew Levitt to act on their client’s behalf.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026
Definition of fumed
Verb
  • My husband Grant Wahl's bulged and burst, at an age when this disease usually means something inherited.
    — Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 13 July 2026
  • That ball found the head of Jude Bellingham, whose diving header bulged the net and opened the scoring.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
Definition of bulged
Verb
  • Sitting with her children in a carriage during the parade and later appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, the princess wore nodded to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana's 1987 Easter outfit in a pale blue ensemble and wide-brimmed hat by Catherine Walker.
    — Meg Walters, InStyle, 15 June 2026
  • Conversations between the two often brimmed with lessons on life, which Honda carries close to heart.
    — Julius Miller Follow, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
Definition of brimmed

Browse Nearby Words

bristle
bristled
bristles
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bristled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bristled. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on bristled

Nglish: Translation of bristled for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All