as in gesturing
to move your arms and hands especially when speaking in an angry or emotional way
He was gesticulating wildly during his speech.
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Recent Examples of gesticulating
Imagery was multiplied to tell a story—the stentorian Mussolini, with his upraised chin and bald head, delivering a speech, or Hitler, with his toothbrush mustache, gesticulating.
—
Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026
Video footage of the incident obtained by KQED appears to show the women gesticulating and shouting at the correctional staff before the officers form a line and deploy pepper spray and mace grenades at the group.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2026
The video, without sound, shows the three of them gesticulating at each other before the 13-year-old in red pants appears to charge David and stab him.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2026
In preschool, he was given a wordless role as Farmer McGregor in a school production of Peter Rabbit and began hamming it up, counting the missing tomatoes and gesticulating at his nemesis rabbit.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Their remaining team-mates applauded the away enclosure, but many in that section were gesticulating their disdain.
—Roshane Thomas, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026
Video footage of the incident obtained by KQED appears to show the women gesticulating and shouting at the correctional staff before the officers form a line and deploy pepper spray and mace grenades at the group.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2026
The video, without sound, shows the three of them gesticulating at each other before the 13-year-old in red pants appears to charge David and stab him.
—Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 17 Mar. 2026
In preschool, he was given a wordless role as Farmer McGregor in a school production of Peter Rabbit and began hamming it up, counting the missing tomatoes and gesticulating at his nemesis rabbit.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2026
Their remaining team-mates applauded the away enclosure, but many in that section were gesticulating their disdain.
—Roshane Thomas, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gesticulating
Verb
-
The premise means that almost the entire episode is free of dialogue, with the characters communicating by writing on chalkboards and gesturing.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 June 2026
-
Grande asks, gesturing to the loop station.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
7 June 2026
Verb
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In both cases, Spanish military aircraft provided an airborne escort, a sign of respect for visiting dignitaries, and in one clip of the video Leo is seen waving to the escorting pilot.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 June 2026
-
He can be seen throwing his helmet off and waving his arms after Lugo went down.—
Zach Dean,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
The pianist Víkingur Ólafsson played the aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, nodding to the fact that Gehry was born Ephraim Goldberg, in Canada.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
-
Queen Camilla made a small update for the 2026 event, switching out her black hat with a black feather for a similar style adorned with a white feather, nodding to the Grenadier Guards’ bearskin hats.—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
13 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gesticulating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gesticulating. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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