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 Over the following decades, the requests and delays while jacks were fiddled gradually receded. — Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026 Her thumbs fiddled, and her eyebrows rose as Castillo excoriated government spending on undocumented immigrants. — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 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 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

Leaning against a desk, Thune fidgeted constantly as the chamber voted and the president's arrival neared.

— Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.

— David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026

Definition of fidgeted

Verb

So, Doncic just tossed up the three-pointer from the three-point line on the Portland side of the court that banked in as time expired.

— Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
Turbulence tossed it up and down by 700 feet (200 meters), but the situation quickly escalated as the aircraft fell at breathtaking speed.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of tossed

Verb

Stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgard, Raymond Nicholson and Tom Francis as college football stars plucked from the height of their sports careers and into Marine training and the Pacific theater.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 1 Nov. 2026
Luckily for the man, having all of the adult worms plucked from his orbs meant the infection was over—no antiparasitic medication required, even if some of the larvae had been left behind.

— Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

Apple has already implemented a series of price hikes on some of its hardware offerings due to rising memory costs, but margins can still be squeezed if the full increase wasn't passed through.

— Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 1 Nov. 2026
But in Israel at least, creatives have been stymied in recent years by a plethora of measures that have left them squeezed between censorship at home and international boycotts.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

Erling Haaland headed City level in the second half, but Jackson got his second and the winner with a first-time finish that squirmed under goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
In the back, tanks bubbled with live lobsters while crawfish squirmed in boxes nearby.

— Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of squirmed

Verb

In the third quarter, Doncic missed a three-pointer, but Jake LaRavia hustled to collect the rebound.

— Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026
In Frankfurt, a gray city crumbling at the corners and still finding its footing after the war, though somehow doing its best to pretend all is well, Mann and Erika are greeted by the mayor and hustled off to a press conference.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 23 Oct. 2026