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 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 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

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

Butler said there seemed to be no warning before the man was tossed into nearby bushes.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
Cranes helped shift the carriages as police and soldiers helped pick through the wreckage strewn down the gravel slope where at least three train carriages were tossed by the impact.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of tossed

Verb

Yet profits have still been squeezed as jet fuel prices surged roughly 90% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began in February, forcing several major carriers to cut earnings forecasts.

— Reuters, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, free cash flow at another budget carrier, JetBlue Airways, remains severely squeezed by elevated jet fuel prices.

— , CNBC, 23 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 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
The two firefighters, listening to their radios, hustled to the upstream bridge, prepared rope and watched the water.

— Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026