PLODDED Synonyms: 165 Similar and Opposite Words

plodded

verb

past tense of plod

as in labored

to devote serious and sustained effort plodded night and day to get the assignment done

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stumbled

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually oxen plodding through deep mud

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as in dragged

to move slowly plodded reluctantly off to work

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shuffled

to move heavily or clumsily wayfarers plodding across the sandy wastes

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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 plodded An hour into the match, Villa Park — tense as the home side plodded against Leeds United a goal down — broke out in excitement. — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers — who, in turn, hurled them at one another. — ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026 Minnesota’s defense has been unreliable lately, but Wisconsin’s offense has plodded most of the year. — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 28 Nov. 2025 For months, the two initiatives plodded along, with photo ops and declarations of good will. — Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025 The Demon Deacons coach ran towards Belichick while removing his hat as the six-time Super Bowl champion coach plodded his way across the field for a blow-by handshake. — Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plodded

Verb

His parents labored to reclaim local wetlands to grow wheat and soybeans.

— Ann Scott Tyson, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Nov. 2026
The Virginia Theological Seminary makes annual cash payments to the descendants whose family members labored on its campus during slavery and Jim Crow eras.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of labored

Verb

Despite massive searches, his whereabouts remained a mystery until June of that year when a group of local hikers stumbled upon a boot, some bones and a driver’s license with a familiar face.

— Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Gunn and Safran started off with the successful launch of a new Superman movie last year but then stumbled big with Supergirl, a critical and commercial bomb.

— Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2026

Definition of stumbled

Verb

The Euphemism Problem In April 2017, a passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight in Chicago.

— Ronn Torossian, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
The ship dragged its anchor along the seabed for about 80 miles, damaging two telecommunications cables, according to a court statement.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of dragged

Verb

On the day of disembarkation, shuttle buses pulled up alongside the Odyssey and passengers shuffled out.

— Shayla Love, New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2026
That said, moving off Nikola’s money certainly could/should be a Heat consideration at some point, with Jovic shuffled out of the rotation Wednesday night against the Clippers.

— Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of shuffled

Verb

Yet when asked to move beyond answering questions to framing their own, many struggled.

— Washington Post, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
But Lloyd, who had long struggled with mental health issues, was also suffering from drug addiction, and conflicts with Verlaine led to the band’s breakup.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of struggled

Verb

That was a welcome development for the Falcons, who trudged through a heavy downpour with violent winds en route to a 16-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.

— Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Some poor families trudged from one village to another, falling victim to violence, hunger and cold.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of trudged

Verb

This year has both flown past and also crawled along at a snail’s pace.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2026
The lawsuit says Brave crawled and copied content from more than 30 billion webpages in its index without identifying itself or providing the owners of websites any mechanism to block its crawler, according to the newspapers’ complaint.

— Molly Crane Newman, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

This year, the party headed to Los Angeles, where all your favorite models — and then some — stomped the runway in lace, lace and more lace.

— Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 19 Oct. 2026
McColley pushed Parente out onto the street and stomped his boot in the victim’s face five times, crushing Parente’s head into the pavement before fleecing his pockets and fleeing, according to the criminal complaint.

— Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of stomped

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plod

plodded

plodder

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“Plodded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plodded. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of plodded

verb

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