FIDDLED Synonyms: 93 Similar and Opposite Words

fiddled

verb

past tense of fiddle

as in fidgeted

to make jerky or restless movements the executive fiddled with a pen as she impatiently waited for the meeting to begin

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cheated

to rob by the use of trickery or threats conscienceless grifters who had spent their lives fiddling the naive

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 fiddled But what does some scientist know about eating fruit, of all things, when your hamstring feels like it’s being fiddled by Satan? — Dan England, Outside, 5 Feb. 2026 As Rossini stowed her purse in a tiny back office, a manager named Katie Atlas was onboarding a new employee, a young woman who fiddled nervously with her necklace. — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025 Communities across the globe probably independently fiddled their way towards the invention of proto lip balms over and over. — Mark Hay, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fiddled

Verb

One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.

— David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026
Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children.

— Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026

Definition of fidgeted

Verb

Hell may hath no fury like a Red Devils squad feeling cheated after the shocking FIFA decision to allow Balogun to play tonight in Seattle.

— Ben Church, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Billups is accused of participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million.

— Ed White, Twin Cities, 29 June 2026

Definition of cheated

Verb

This comes as the ex-Apprentice host on July 3 tossed some praise Clinton’s way in a book reading event with Second Lady Usha Vance on the latter’s podcast.

— Dominic Patten, Deadline, 4 July 2026
This creator tossed on an oversize button-down and chunky bauble necklace for an effortlessly cool long-weekend look.

— Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 4 July 2026

Definition of tossed

Verb

In all, designing, building and assembling the horse involved a team of 45, not much less than the number of men on Odysseus’ ship (and roughly the same amount on board after the Cyclops and Scylla monsters had plucked off a few).

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 13 July 2026
Sweet and simple, these lemon motifs look plucked straight from a European grocer along the Amalfi coast.

— Ariel Wodarcyk, InStyle, 13 July 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites.

— Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 May 2026
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 May 2026

Definition of twitched

Verb

Belloumi’s 64th-minute strike with his left foot broke the deadlock in the second game of the two-leg affair and Gelhardt made sure with a low shot that squirmed past the Millwall goalkeeper.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 May 2026
His Japanese guest, usually a paragon of diplomatic cool, visibly squirmed.

— Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 14 Apr. 2026

Definition of squirmed

Verb

With one hour to collect their gear and pack the school bus taking them to Miami Gardens, the kids hustled to get ready to make their World Cup debut.

— Michael Butler, Miami Herald, 11 July 2026
Angela George The program's pacing and energy feel hustled this evening as organizers try to make up for two hours lost because of storms earlier in the day.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 3 July 2026