1
as in dragged
to move or act slowly
even though the hurricane was fast approaching, federal and local politicians wasted precious time diddling
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
an unscrupulous Broadway producer diddles little old ladies by persuading them to invest in a surefire flop
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for diddled
Verb
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The case dragged on for more than a decade before a landmark 1997 settlement established nationwide minimum standards for the detention of minors.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
13 Mar. 2026 -
Even with the massive emergency release, analysts said that strategic reserves can cover only a fraction of the supply loss if the conflict dragged on.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Some people like to vote on election day, said Dianne Clinkscale from Dallas, arguing that the county’s voters got cheated out their right on to vote.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 Mar. 2026
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Visitors to the sites at Independence Park were cheated when they were cut off from facts that enable us to imagine ourselves in the lives of those who lived and worked there.—
Carol Quillen,
Time,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Chicago O’Hare issued a ground stop on Tuesday night due to thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, with flight departures delayed an average of 15 minutes and increasing.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
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The probe was delayed from 2022, and headed for the asteroid Psyche, using a Mars-gravity assist and not arriving until August 2029.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Early in the second period, just after Greaves got caught out of the net while playing a puck to his right, Provorov hustled to the other side of the net and sprawled across the ice, blocking a shot by Florida’s Tomas Nosek that would have tied the score at 1.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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The Ducks’ fourth line toiled low in the zone, and after the Jets hustled to avert the threat there, Trouba’s ostensibly harmless fling from the far corner found the net, appearing to hit Winnipeg defenseman Ville Heinola’s stick first.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The bouncy seventh-year center suffered a severe right ankle sprain on the first day of training camp and the pain has lingered for five months, limiting his mobility and effectiveness on both ends of the floor.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Mar. 2026
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Simons fractured his wrist in training camp with the Boston Celtics, an injury that lingered after briefly sidelining him at the start of the season.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Other creative directors packed their show spaces, recalling a bygone frenzied atmosphere wheren attendees craned their necks and squeezed into standing room spaces not to get that perfect iPhone shot but because the ideas were so exhilerating.—
Rachel Tashjian,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
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The middle class is being squeezed, in more ways than one.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But researchers who studied crocodiles at an outdoor recreation center near Cape Town appear to have poked a hole in that approach.—
Regina G. Barber,
NPR,
9 Mar. 2026
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Flick’s team persisted after the break, pressing high and eventually finding a third goal when Bernal poked home from a Joao Cancelo cross.—
Laia Cervelló Herrero,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Suffice it to say, my salmon and avocado toast could have been made with stuff caught and plucked that day.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
14 Mar. 2026
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Moss is one of two employees that Virco, a school-furniture maker known for its colorful plastic classroom chairs, plucked from other departments for three-year apprenticeships in tool and die.—
Andrea Hsu,
NPR,
13 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Diddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diddled. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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