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

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

Morant appears to be at odds with Memphis brass, and has already been suspended by his own flailing team once this season for appearing to question his head coach. — Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2025

Verb

Flushed and flailing during Schauf’s final countdown, her gum-chewing getting a little more exaggerated with each second, Cooper quipped that her handiwork might be better sealed under a closed casket. — John Semley, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026

As if on command, the lefty struck out Carter Jensen on three fastballs and then sent Lane Thomas flailing at a changeup for another punchout. — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 25 July 2026

The theme of a flailing small town hits home for the set of Ransom Canyon as well. — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 23 July 2026

And regardless, such arrangements are unlikely to save a flailing labor market. — Lila Shroff, The Atlantic, 9 July 2026

Then Mookie Betts drove him in with a comebacker over the mound and past flailing second baseman Edouard Julien. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

The inebriated father who sometimes leapt upon his sleeping children, fists flailing? — Jason Prokowiew, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026

But the show still makes its point that the world of this play has narcissistic aggressors and flailing victims, and those who fall into both of those categories. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026

The chaos allows a Triarchy ship to harpoon Jace's dragon, Vermax, dragging the flailing creature down into the ocean, along with Rhaenyra's heir. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 22 June 2026