Synonyms of flailing

flailing 1 of 2

noun

as in flapping

Related Words

• flapping
• waving
• writhing
• twitching
• squirming
• fiddling
• wriggling
• fidgeting
• locomotion
• squirm
• mobility
• motility
• shifting
• motion
• migration
• dislocation
• relocation
• stirring
• movement
• motivity
• move
• shift
• stir

Dissimilar Words

• immobility
• inertia
• motionlessness
• stop
• stillness
• termination
• expiration
• halt
• ending
• cessation
• pause
• finish
• lapse
• shutdown
• stoppage
• discontinuance
• inertness
• surcease
• shutoff

flailing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of flail

1

as in fluttering

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

• flapping
• fluttering
• whipping
• waving
• flopping
• swinging
• swaying
• beating
• knocking
• flicking
• banging
• smacking
• pounding
• thumping
• flickering
• flitting
• battering
• oscillating
• fanning
• throbbing
• buffeting
• pulsing
• undulating
• spanking
• palpitating

2

as in whipping

to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible

gruesome evidence that the prisoner had been flailed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• whipping
• hiding
• slashing
• flicking
• slapping
• lashing
• thrashing
• hitting
• switching
• knocking
• cutting
• punching
• flagellating
• flogging
• smacking
• banging
• licking
• pounding
• spanking
• scourging
• tanning
• whaling
• whacking
• mauling
• batting
• clapping
• strapping
• leathering
• swiping
• clipping
• horsewhipping
• beating
• thumping
• rawhiding
• cowhiding
• birching
• swatting
• boxing
• pelting
• bashing
• pummeling
• thwacking
• cudgeling
• clubbing
• bopping
• slugging
• battering
• paddling
• clobbering
• caning
• quirting
• smiting
• cracking
• clouting
• hammering
• mangling
• bludgeoning
• knouting
• touching up
• socking
• pasting
• buffeting
• lambasting
• cuffing
• slogging
• lathering
• busting
• roughing
• belaboring
• working over
• walloping
• belting
• blackjacking
• drubbing
• slating
• pistol-whipping
• whopping
• tromping
• fustigating
• lamming
• threshing
• basting
• fibbing
• lacing
• bunging
• whupping
• pommeling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of flailing

Noun

Unai Emery’s penchant for rehabilitating flailing, once prodigious talents now extends to Alejandro Garnacho. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 30 July 2026

This is not the approach of a president who’s running a war; this is the flailing of a man who’s in over his head and is reacting to events, rather than guiding them. — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026

For all his bobbing and flailing, and sensitive shaping of the music, conductor Christian Capocaccia evinced little attention to singers. — Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 11 Apr. 2026

But his role was not to fix a flailing business, but, rather, to keep a roaring flame alive. — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 4 Mar. 2026

Somatic shaking involves a few minutes of fast, energetic movement like jumping, arm flailing, and foot stomping. — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Mar. 2026

Not only are customers being driven mad by the bots getting orders completely wrong, but even some company executives are also being worn down by the flailing effort. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 26 Feb. 2026

But even if part of the point is to show that healing doesn’t happen overnight, the catharsis is too vague to reward all the flailing distress. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026

And so too is his slightly flailing, vaguely desperate, going-for-it run, typified by his hair falling out of place and the sense that this man is fundamentally, for all his money and celebrity, some guy trying to get from one place to another. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025

Verb

Much of the time, you’re left to put up with untrained screen actors not knowing where to stand or look, or who don’t know not to block the camera’s view with flailing hands. — Siddhant Adlakha, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2026

From despair to salvation and then back again, the picture at the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United was of flailing limbs, both on the touchline, as players mobbed late, late equaliser-scorer Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and in the stands. — Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Her arms and legs flailing, the infant falls silent, according to the arrest report. — Jane Park, Cincinnati Enquirer, 24 Aug. 2026

Top McCain-Palin aides later acknowledged that backlash to the Couric interview, as well as Palin's flailing performance in other sit-downs, influenced the campaign's trajectory. — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026

Benzina's spot kick was awarded after a VAR check penalized Algeria’s Lana Smits for catching Sakina Ouzraoui in the face with a flailing arm. — ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026

She was then treated and cleared for travel, and her sling was padded with foam to keep her from flailing her tail. — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026

Whining, crying, kicking, hitting, flailing, dropping to the floor, holding their breath, going limp, running away or throwing things are all part of the picture. — Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Trump is merely flailing for options that might avoid the humiliation of losing the war or the risk of escalating beyond standoff strikes. — Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2026