1
as in to crumple
to create (as by crushing) an irregular mass of creases in
scrunched up the shirt and tossed it in the laundry
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scrunch
Louis' scrunched up face got an affectionate giggle out of his dad as the two sat side-by-side at the 80th anniversary of VE Day in 2025.
—
Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Mind you, that was also by design — the west side of the stadium was roped off entirely, so that 50% of capacity was scrunched into one half of the building.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
Further inspection found a Mexican citizen scrunched into a makeshift, dry compartment in the gas tank that February day.
—Jim Radcliffe, Oc Register, 3 Apr. 2026
Reduce frizz, add shine, and offer your curls a soft, flexible hold with Bumble and Bumble's Curl Defining Styling Cream, which should be scrunched into wet hair from mid-shaft to ends before air drying or diffusing.
—Lily Wohlner, Allure, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scrunch
Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
Mind you, that was also by design — the west side of the stadium was roped off entirely, so that 50% of capacity was scrunched into one half of the building.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
Further inspection found a Mexican citizen scrunched into a makeshift, dry compartment in the gas tank that February day.
—Jim Radcliffe, Oc Register, 3 Apr. 2026
Reduce frizz, add shine, and offer your curls a soft, flexible hold with Bumble and Bumble's Curl Defining Styling Cream, which should be scrunched into wet hair from mid-shaft to ends before air drying or diffusing.
—Lily Wohlner, Allure, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scrunch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scrunch
Verb
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MacKinnon initially crumpled to the ice in pain after blocking the shot, briefly getting to one knee and clearing the puck out of the defensive zone before falling back to the ice.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
25 May 2026
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Nearby, a different video shows her pink jacket crumpled on the sidewalk and a green purse.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
12 May 2026
Verb
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Will Smith crouched, his left knee on the ground and his mitt grazing the dirt as his Team USA teammate, Mason Miller, strode towards the plate.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
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Over the years, there’s been some confusion about the value of crouching down like a baseball catcher to limit your own height.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
27 May 2026
Verb
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Proxy services are often used for illicit or unethical purposes such as performing DDoS attacks, running botnet command-and-control servers, operating phishing operations, and scraping website content.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
29 May 2026
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During that time, crews will scrape up old lines and paint new ones, ITD spokesperson Jill Youmans told the Idaho Statesman on Friday.—
Rose Evans
May 29,
Idaho Statesman,
29 May 2026
Verb
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In 1980 and ’81, Ghirri was lured to Amsterdam, invited by the Polaroid company to experiment with its 20×24 Land Camera, a monstrous version of the then-ubiquitous SX-70 folding model.—
James Quandt,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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The emotional labor of managing everyone else’s comfort becomes folded into the job description.—
Kelly Ehlers,
Rolling Stone,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Both of these teams are elite and gritted through losses in the College World Series to get to these finals.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
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Govel even gritted through a nasty stinger on a comebacker in the bottom of the fourth.—
Jack Vita,
Chicago Tribune,
24 May 2026
Verb
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Johnson, the second batter of the frame, hit a long fly ball to right field that kept carrying and scratched the wall as Jarrod Hocking attempted to rob it.—
Aaron Heisen,
Daily News,
29 May 2026
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Each spatula has a grippy handle and is made of flexible silicone that resists high cooking temperatures and won’t scratch bowls or bakeware.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
29 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scrunch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scrunch. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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