1
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
2
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
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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
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
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Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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So those Santa Ana constituents would be cheated out of services if the money remained solely in the First District.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
17 Mar. 2026
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Increasingly bitter about being cheated, and decreasingly able or willing to hide it, Rick exhibits erratic behavior that alienates his friends, his family, his band.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Cooper Flagg was heavily guarded in the left corner by Dyson Daniels with the shot clock winding down and tossed the ball to Naji Marshall, but the pass was picked off by Jalen Johnson.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Mar. 2026
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On Monday, at the conclusion of a round of batting practice, Harper tossed his bat toward an empty pitcher’s mound.—
Bill Shaikin,
Los Angeles Times,
17 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
Verb
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Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.—
Freida Frisaro,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.—
Scott Haugen,
Outdoor Life,
4 Feb. 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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Substitute Nikolas Nartey completed the scoring in stoppage time with another deflected shot that squirmed in off the far post.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Mar. 2026
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Carl squirmed away from some of his earlier remarks minimizing the Holocaust but stood by his views on anti-white persecution and the Great Replacement.—
Andreas Kluth,
Mercury News,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Skin torn off the top of LeBron James’ knee, the Lakers star sharing a photo to Instagram on Monday morning, is somehow a representative image of how the team hustled its way to a five-game winning streak.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
17 Mar. 2026
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Gonzales hustled down the line on the play.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fiddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fiddled. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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