slithering

verb

present participle of slither
as in creeping
to move slowly with the body close to the ground a snake slithering through the garden

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 slithering Look for a variety of birds of prey, slithering reptiles, and little critters that run from here to there. — Wendy Altschuler, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026 This is believed to be the first slithering creature seen at a football practice since Drew Rosenhaus. — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026 Here are seven solutions to keep these animals slithering past your yard. — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 6 July 2026 There are anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) currently slithering through the Florida Everglades. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2026 North Carolina is crawling, or perhaps slithering, with copperheads. — Eva Flowe, Charlotte Observer, 22 June 2026 On land, movements range from crawling and slithering (worms, mollusks, arthropods, snakes) to walking and running. — Literary Hub, 22 June 2026 His wife, Cheryl Hines, is heard off camera asking him to be careful with the slithering reptiles. — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 26 May 2026 But his idealized vision of a past paradise of social cohesion that late-stage capitalism destroyed doesn’t reckon with the snakes that were always there in this imaginary Eden, including a personal betrayal that’s close to home and only comes slithering out in a moment of drunken weakness. — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slithering
  1. creeping
  2. crawling
  3. snaking
  4. sliding
Verb
  • But when prices on everything from gas to groceries are steadily creeping upward, sticking to your plans for spending can feel like a losing battle.
    — Becca Stanek, TheWeek, 17 Aug. 2026
  • On Widow’s Bay, a show currently decorated with 19 Emmy nominations, the line between cozy New England charm and creeping dread is often found in the details.
    — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of creeping
Verb
  • Nidhi imagined the baby crawling around in her mother’s body, desperately seeking the uterus, and, failing to find it in its proper place, quietly shrivelling up and dying.
    — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
  • That happened in New York City in 2018, when at least a half dozen city buses were taken out of service after reports of bedbugs crawling on seats.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawling
Verb
  • When her foster mom is preparing dinner, Lu sneakily samples from her siblings’ meals, snaking her tongue into each bowl.
    — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Previously centered on Nashville and central Tennessee, the district now extends to the northwest corner of the state before snaking south along the Mississippi River to Memphis.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of snaking
Verb
  • These guys might do much of the unglamorous work that goes unnoticed, breaking up play, playing short passes and sliding across into position to snuff out counter-attacks, but their role is highly valued in the transfer market.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026
  • An Intensity Slider – a simple sliding bar adjustment for controlling the depth, vibrancy, brightness and contrast of the TV’s pictures to compensate for viewing angles, onscreen reflections and simply different viewing tastes.
    — John Archer, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of sliding

Browse Nearby Words

slithered
slithering
slithers
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Slithering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slithering. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on slithering

Nglish: Translation of slithering for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of divulge

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All