SNAKES Synonyms: 224 Similar and Opposite Words

snakes 1 of 2

noun

plural of snake

as in serpents

a limbless reptile with a long body snakes are cold-blooded, so they regulate their body temperature by alternately basking in sunlight and seeking shade

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as in dogs

a person whose behavior is offensive to others why, that dirty, rotten snake!

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in traitors

one who betrays a trust or an allegiance what a snake she was—having an affair with my husband while I was in the hospital!

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snakes

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of snake

as in lurks

to move about in a sly or secret manner snaking softly through the brush

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as in creeps

to move slowly with the body close to the ground commandos snaking through the grass toward the house

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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 snakes

Noun

At the end of the experience, a line snakes to the Nickelodeon slime station. — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 July 2026 The shots are busy with equipment—boom mikes, bulb-flashes, wires and cables dripping like innards or snakes, the hungry Cyclopean eye of a mounted camera. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 24 July 2026 Burmese pythons — destructive invasive snakes with few natural predators in Florida — have developed a new foothold outside the Everglades. — Sarah Perkel, USA Today, 24 July 2026 Beyond simply removing snakes, the challenge accomplishes a few key goals. — Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 22 July 2026 When snakes still appeared around the house, Tyler found a way to relocate them rather than harm them. — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 19 July 2026 The tracker implanted inside her will eventually lead the team to more snakes. — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026 More than 900 participants signed up for last year’s Python Challenge, and potentially as many are currently scouring for snakes amid the 2026 competition. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 15 July 2026 Hathaway’s jewelry consisted of a silver set of cuffs and coordinating silver studs in the shape of snakes with emerald eyes. — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 14 July 2026

Verb

The New River, which snakes through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, may be one of the oldest river systems on earth. — Josh Laskin, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026 Morning mist coated the nearby Rhone River that snakes through the Alpine valley as worshippers flocked in. — ABC News, 1 July 2026 Gray is one of seven Democratic candidates seeking the nomination for the newly gerrymandered 4th district, which snakes up Kansas City’s urban core and down through a vast swath of rural western Missouri. — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 29 June 2026 There’s Route 1, which snakes all the way from Maine to Florida. — Daniel Milowski, The Conversation, 29 June 2026 When a Knicks game lets out at the Garden or concertgoers from the Meadowlands pour out of Penn Station, crowds pack the Tick Tock’s orange-and-green banquettes and the line snakes out the door. — Literary Hub, 17 June 2026 The River Caqueta snakes nearly 1,800 miles into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 27 May 2026 The plaster, cave-like living room (complete with a cozy fireplace) served as a backdrop for trivia night; the ice-cold creek, which snakes along the five-acre property, was our personal swimming spot to chase off the heat of the day. — Aemilia Madden, Vogue, 27 May 2026 Valdez is the surprising leader in the district that snakes through northern Brooklyn and western Queens, including some of the most progressive neighborhoods in the entire nation. — Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 27 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for snakes

Noun

Those serpents include six rattlesnake species and non-rattlers, such as the Copperhead, Water Moccasin (or Cottonmouth) and Eastern Coral snakes.

— Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Laocoön and His Sons, an exquisite marble sculpture of the legendary Trojan priest writhing in agony as he’s attacked by sea-serpents, was first unearthed in the early sixteenth-century, the only missing piece his right arm.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Feb. 2026

Definition of serpents

Noun

On the other side are industry advocates, who say the animals are well cared for, the stables are fine and the owners and drivers love their horses like most pet owners love their dogs.

— Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026
This one, by Adrián Xuana (San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca), is a towering, spindly incarnation of a xoloitzcuintli, those hairless Mexican dogs believed to guide spirits through the underworld.

— Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 July 2026

Definition of dogs

Noun

Those who opposed the coup, like Tom Keith's grandfather, are still often thought of as traitors, just as his distant relatives are.

— Lee Cowan, CBS News, 12 July 2026
Irina and Raskova will enjoy a long, successful professional collaboration, purging Star City of traitors and threats and bringing down Petrovsky in a plot that leads to his ending his life in ignominy, having confessed to crimes against the state.

— Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 10 July 2026

Definition of traitors

Verb

Those combinations are concentrated through the middle, where Messi generally lurks, with Argentina directing a smaller share of their passing towards the flanks than any other team.

— Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 20 July 2026
In Elliott’s Connecticut, the governor would send a busload of stern but compassionate counselors to protect workers hiding in their office where a gunman lurks.

— Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026

Definition of lurks

Verb

Complexity slowly creeps in, via the boardroom, presentations, decisions, relationships and finally, the ability to serve the consumer and the very reason why the company exists in the first place.

— Sonal Jain, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
As our conversation extends into the hour mark, her hood creeps upward along the side of her face most visible to those around us.

— José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 23 June 2026

Definition of creeps

Browse Nearby Words

snake pits

snakes

snakeskin

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Style

“Snakes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/snakes. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of snakes

noun

verb

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