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
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
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
-
Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The fractures within the group, however — with some of the cast siding with Ariana Madix (who’d been cheated on), and others agreeing to film with Tom Sandoval (who had cheated) — made filming for Season 11 mostly unsustainainable.—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
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Overall, prosecutors allege the nearly three-dozen defendants cheated unfortunate players out of at least $7 million.—
Ben Brachfeld,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Marshall tossed an overhead pass to Flagg, who slammed in a dunk.—
Christian Clark,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Check in on your hair tools before the year end to see what’s still in good shape and what needs to be tossed.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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An all-star cast plucked from different corners of the pop culture firmament leads Ryan Murphy's All's Fair, a Hulu legal drama about female divorce attorneys who open their own practice.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Nov. 2025
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Such is life in Marthaland, where homemaking tasks are plucked from the realm of everyday drudgery and elevated to a pure pursuit of excellence.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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His eyes twitched in rapid blinks, his lips disappeared as if cold fury were coursing through his body.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Her hand twitched from the heat.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Another passenger squeezed her way up the aisle to try to make a tight connection.—
Nathan Diller,
USA Today,
9 Nov. 2025
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De’Von Achane took the handoff, squeezed through the hole, blasted past a diving defender at midfield and outraced the rest of the Bills’ defense to the end zone.—
Steve Gorten,
Miami Herald,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The open section of their session lasted for 15 minutes — and Howe will have squirmed through every second — but there were laughs amid the stretches and shuttle runs.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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All that was between him and a defender was Stafford, who hustled to get into position before offering a chicken wing of a block.—
Nate Atkins,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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But Boberg, a freshman defender, hustled to the goal line to block the attempt.—
Mike Cook,
Twin Cities,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fiddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fiddled. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
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