as in to fidget
to make jerky or restless movements
the toddler squirmed the whole time we were in the waiting room
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in squirming
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of squirm
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
That kind of thing makes a checker squirm.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan stage and shoot said home invasion like a Jacques Tati sequence — that is to say, from an amused, ironic distance that watches humans squirm and scramble without intervention.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squirm
Verb
Even the normally surefire element of a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, with its blasts of dissonance pumping up the squirm factor, adds to the heavy-going effect of a movie that seems to go out of its way to be grating.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Aug. 2025
That kind of thing makes a checker squirm.
—Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Noun
But the Rockies, as is their wont, made the Padres squirm, belting 14 hits, including a solo home run by Mickey Moniak in the ninth off Robert Suarez.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 7 Sep. 2025
Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan stage and shoot said home invasion like a Jacques Tati sequence — that is to say, from an amused, ironic distance that watches humans squirm and scramble without intervention.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squirm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squirm
Verb
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Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
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Notice: are people fidgeting, looking at their hands, or rolling their eyes?—
Anne Sugar,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Picture objects levitating or twitching without external interference—or switching rooms.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Oct. 2025
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Her hand twitched from the heat.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Throughout the writhing and the screaming, Julia’s fortitude wears down a defiant Davina, whose history with Lovat feeds the moment.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Bieber picked up the victory for Toronto after tossing five-and-a-third innings and giving up just one run on four hits.—
Wayne Sterling,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
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For those without any shelter, there’s always the risk that valuables or important documents will get tossed during a cleanup, and public records show that city crews are rarely flagging belongings for storage.—
Blake Nelson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, often followed by slurred speech.—
Vanessa Etienne,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Having documented much of her daughter’s health battle on social media, Atkinson shared the footage of her tear-jerking wish on TikTok (@kayatkin).—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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Paul goes to shake her hand but jerks it back, then gives her a left-handed handshake.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That led to him extending both hands and wiggling them in a wave-type motion.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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First, wiggle your hips; then, wipe, stand up, and sit back down to pee again.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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For those deep in the Apple ecosystem who want headphones that just work without all the fiddling, the Beats Solo 4 make sense with a 25% discount.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
13 Oct. 2025
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Now scientists have found that, with a little fiddling, the feathers can be adjusted to turn flashes of light into laser beams.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Squirm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squirm. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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