as in leisurely
moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed
the crawling pace of the narrative is really frustrating
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in creeping
to move slowly with the body close to the ground
the time we had to crawl through a narrow passageway from one cave to another
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in dragging
to move slowly
the weekend traffic on the road to the beach just crawled
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in poking
to move or act slowly
the deadline is fast approaching, so this is no time to crawl
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 crawling
Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
The franchise is absolutely crawling with demons — and therefore crawling with opportunities to make a buck.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
According to a LinkedIn post from e-commerce Juozas Kaziukenas, the online shopping giant is working to block Big Tech players’ respective LLMs from crawling and ingesting its product data to display to consumers.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2025
The centipede the Redditor found crawling in her bed.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
The crawling issue has also caused friction between Cloudflare and Perplexity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
One live roach was crawling on the top rim of the steak drawer, disappearing inside the cooler drawer door on the cook line.
—David J. Neal
updated August 22, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Each form usually comes with a unique ability that can be used to traverse areas, clear obstacles, and enhance gameplay in some way such as swimming better in her mermaid form, crawling up webs as a spider, or smashing boulders as an elephant.
—David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
Her grandkids are crawling into trouble.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
The franchise is absolutely crawling with demons — and therefore crawling with opportunities to make a buck.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
According to a LinkedIn post from e-commerce Juozas Kaziukenas, the online shopping giant is working to block Big Tech players’ respective LLMs from crawling and ingesting its product data to display to consumers.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2025
The centipede the Redditor found crawling in her bed.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
The crawling issue has also caused friction between Cloudflare and Perplexity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
One live roach was crawling on the top rim of the steak drawer, disappearing inside the cooler drawer door on the cook line.
—David J. Neal
updated August 22, Miami Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Each form usually comes with a unique ability that can be used to traverse areas, clear obstacles, and enhance gameplay in some way such as swimming better in her mermaid form, crawling up webs as a spider, or smashing boulders as an elephant.
—David Jagneaux, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crawling
Adjective
-
Bring along family or friends to enjoy a leisurely walk, trip to your local cider mill, adventurous hike or a picnic.—
Jenna Prestininzi,
Freep.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
With plates this inventive, brunch at Etch is less a leisurely pause and more an invitation to explore bold, boundary-crossing flavors.—
Rai Mincey,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Another client, a senior executive negotiating a promotion, felt the old narrative of 'don’t ask for too much' creeping in mid-discussion.—
Naz Beheshti,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Fire was backing and creeping throughout the night.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Sesame and potato as a combo is, in fact, reminiscent of the days of our collective childhoods, when experimentation looked like dragging Wendy’s fries through a vanilla Frosty.—
Lyndsay C. Green,
Freep.com,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Samuel cut inside off an excellent lead block by Croskey-Merritt and shed nickel back Dru Phillips’ tackle attempt before dragging linebacker Bobby Okereke with him to the goal line for a touchdown.—
David Aldridge,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Gavras, working from a script he co-wrote with Pulitzer-finalist playwright Will Arbery, seems to be poking fun at the vacuous postures of the oligarch class, just as Ruben Östlund and many other filmmakers have in recent years.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Sep. 2025
-
New Bayern Munich signing Luis Díaz strolled down the left flank before cutting inside and poking a cross along the six-yard line.—
Joseph O'Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
An affectionate little cat with a heart bursting with love for humans is looking for a home at a Texas shelter.—
TJ Macias,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The novel sparkles with Sosa’s signature wit and sense of humor; the banter between Javi and Mari is deliciously funny, bursting with laugh-out-loud moments on seemingly every other page.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Biden, who ended his bid for a second White House term 107 days before last year's election, has been relatively slow to move on presidential library planning compared with most of his recent predecessors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
-
With Parkinson’s, doctors implant electrodes in the brain that produce electrical impulses to disrupt the abnormal signals that cause tremors, stiffness and slow movement.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In recent weeks grosses for the show have slipped considerably, with the weekly take at the end of August sliding to an unsustainable $505,142.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Last year at Monza, Red Bull struggled with balance, with the car sliding at times.—
Kanzah Maktoum,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The three actors were filming a lighthearted scene, shuffling excitedly between a hot sauna and cold plunge, when Reeves’ foot caught on some flooring.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The film essentially takes place entirely within an under-20-minute timeline, showing the same events from a shuffling deck of points of view.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crawling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crawling. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share