1
as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort
plodded night and day to get the assignment done
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2
as in to stumble
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
oxen plodding through deep mud
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
4
as in to shuffle
to move heavily or clumsily
wayfarers plodding across the sandy wastes
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of plod
This plodding approach is why NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, overhauled the Artemis program in February.
—
Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
This plodding approach is why NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman overhauled the Artemis program in February.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026
The production of interceptors has been plodding.
—Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
In less capable hands, these pieces could plod aimlessly and fade away, but Lawson knows how to wring complexity from a minimal set of elements.
—Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for plod
Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2026
This plodding approach is why NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman overhauled the Artemis program in February.
—Marcia Dunn, Chicago Tribune, 29 Mar. 2026
The production of interceptors has been plodding.
—Missy Ryan, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
In less capable hands, these pieces could plod aimlessly and fade away, but Lawson knows how to wring complexity from a minimal set of elements.
—Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for plod
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plod
Verb
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The contestants struggled mighty hard with the songs.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
28 Apr. 2026
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Pornographic deepfake images of her have circulated online, making the singer the most famous victim of a scourge that tech platforms and antiabuse groups have struggled to fix.—
Maria Sherman,
Fortune,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The mood in Venice is still borderline ecstatic, full of gossip, parties, and people chatting about art in their respective cities, trading business cards, discovering new talent, eating, drinking, and stumbling around, running into old friends.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
8 May 2026
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South Africa has stumbled into a classic policy trap.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
The Carboniferous period dragged on for sixty million.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
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Perhaps the aether did exist, but it could never be construed as being in motion by an observer on the Earth, because the aether itself was being dragged by objects traveling through space, such as the Earth, explaining why a null result was obtained.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
Verb
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MotoGP also had to shuffle its schedule due to the conflict in the Middle East, postponing the Qatar Grand Prix to November.—
Justin Birnbaum,
Sportico.com,
7 May 2026
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But sometimes, simply shuffling the pieces can help, in our view.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
7 May 2026
Verb
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Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was always expected to live a quiet life — but she’s sent on an entirely different path when her mother, a general in the military, orders her to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become dragon riders, the elite of Navarre.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
11 May 2026
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Vision Zero is the initiative striving to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.—
Nora O'Neill,
Charlotte Observer,
11 May 2026
Verb
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During a recent visit by Fortune, Haushalter trudged through her muddy post-rain fields in high rubber boots.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
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When the game ended, following Mosley’s postgame comments to the team, Suggs trudged in his flip-flops to the team’s therapy areas.—
Josh Robbins,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
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After losing her friend Yo, Anna spends a decade obsessively building a detailed one-third-scale replica of her house — just large enough to crawl inside — where a puppet version of Yo still lives.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
6 May 2026
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Ahmed Moustafa, who operates a halal cart near Yankee Stadium, is still crawling out from the pandemic.—
Yuna Kim,
New York Daily News,
6 May 2026
Verb
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We’re treated to a surreal sequence wherein Cassie transforms into the 50-Foot Woman, stomping all over Downtown Los Angeles like a monster movie, which all seems like a pretext for a scene where Sweeney’s giant boobs burst through the windows of a building.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
11 May 2026
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Rollins repeatedly stomped Breakker in the face and lined up for The Stomp, but Breakker countered, grabbed Rollins’ foot and hit a military press into a gutbuster.—
Blake Oestriecher,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plod.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plod. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
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