Thesaurus results for FLAILED

flailed

verb

Definition of flailed next

past tense of flail

as in flapped

to move or cause to move with a striking motion started to flail his arms wildly when he spied a bat in the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in whipped

to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible gruesome evidence that the prisoner had been flailed

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 flailed The Braves were a ratings hit, and when the team flailed and went up for sale, Turner’s company became its owner in 1976. —

Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026 Gorman flailed at a 96 mph full-count four-seamer. —

Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 19 Apr. 2026 After being placed in a government vehicle, Ferreira Borges allegedly kicked, flailed, and screamed obscenities at officers, officials said. —

Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 17 Apr. 2026 On an odd-man rush, New Jersey's Jesper Bratt scored the go-ahead goal for his second score of the game from the left circle off a perfect pass from Jack Hughes as John Gibson flailed around in an attempt to stop the puck. —

CBS News, 12 Apr. 2026 Coach Hansen flailed his fist, calling it the biggest win in school history, the program’s second NorCal victory after Tuesday’s resounding 84-58 home win over Destiny Christian-Sacramento. —

Mitch Stephens, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Mar. 2026 His left leg flailed a bit in the air. —

Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026 In a video that went viral on social media, the girl appeared to grip the chairlift in a desperate struggle as her feet flailed in the air, still strapped to her snowboard. —

Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026 By then, Achiuwa had already beaten Tyler Kolek in a foot race to the ball, and Brown flailed his arms in frustration while screaming for his All-Star to get off the floor. —

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for flailed

Verb

Emery will argue his fine-margins approach, however blunt Villa presently appear in attack, could have been validated if Ollie Watkins’ close-range shot was not straight at Stefan Ortega or if Lucas Digne had not flapped his arms inside the box to give away a penalty.

— Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 1 May 2026
The jacket hugged every contour of your torso and never flapped in the wind.

— The Editors, Outside, 18 Mar. 2026