SQUIRMY Synonyms: 40 Similar and Opposite Words

squirmy

adjective

Definition of squirmy

as in wiggly

making jerky or restless movements a squirmy baby

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 squirmy The screwworm is actually a parasitic fly named for its larvae, which look like squirmy worms. — Alice Park, Time, 2 July 2026 Simply set out bowls of coffee grounds among your outdoor seating areas to prevent ants, mosquitoes, fruit flies, and squirmy critters from crashing your barbecue. — Joey Skladany, Southern Living, 17 June 2026 Fjord is a squirmy drama in which Stan and Renate Reinsve play a married couple who move with their five children from Romania to Norway to be closer to Reinsve’s mother, only to draw the interest of child protective services when a teacher at school spots bruises on one of the kids. — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 26 May 2026 With that disclosure out in the open, the rest of the squirmy attendees subtly sank deeper into their seats, accepting Steinem’s orbit as a safe space. — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 22 Apr. 2026 One of them is a squirmy, intensely relatable dark comedy about the escalating horrors of planning a wedding. — Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026 Adding to the action is a colorful, squirmy worm that will get kids laughing and moving. — Pamela Brill, Parents, 2 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for squirmy

Adjective

Teaching first grade has always involved dealing with wiggly and talkative kids.

— Stacker, Hartford Courant, 9 May 2026
At the edges of the channel, near the walls, Rout and Lim’s team saw rapid fluctuations of molecules — those were the wiggly nucleoporins.

— Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 9 Mar. 2026

Definition of wiggly

Adjective

Even Jason notices the guests are fidgety.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2026
The two go toe-to-toe in power and precision, but the Breville’s intuitive assembly is a massive improvement on the Cuisinart’s notoriously fidgety and fussy locking mechanisms.

— Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025

Definition of fidgety

Adjective

Atlanta artist Truett Dietz’s twitchy, colorful, anxiety-laden drawings at Wolfgang Gallery are visions of our brains on internet.

— Felicia Feaster, AJC.com, 13 June 2026
But the potential for a face-plant remains, especially given the large percentage of shares that will be doled out to retail investors who are, by and large, big Musk fans but also tend to be twitchy.

— Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 11 June 2026

Definition of twitchy

Adjective

Black children experience higher rates of lactose intolerance, which meant many of my kids went the entire school day without clean, safe drinking water and instead milk that gave them an upset stomach.

— Joe Holberg, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026
Many party insiders thought Larson would cruise to victory at the party’s nominating convention, but Bronin pulled a stunning upset that sent shock waves through the Connecticut political establishment.

— Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 9 July 2026

Definition of upset

Adjective

Both players are wriggly, elusive dribblers.

— Luke Bosher, New York Times, 25 June 2026
Medieval Christians looked at the very same phenomenon and imagined it as a reflection of divine will, the transformation of a wriggly worm into a flying jewel an earthly reminder of the transfiguration of Jesus to Christ.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025

Definition of wriggly

Adjective

The 18-year-old was sent to Adelanto ICE Detention Center in handcuffs, nearly a hundred miles away from his worried family members.

— Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
Holmes is worried about old shingles and tiles in construction material that could have asbestos leaking into the water supply.

— Mary Ella Hastings July 8, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 July 2026

Definition of worried

Adjective

The looming project was why Purohit was nervous to move her mother into Silverado last winter.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
For most of the last decade the threat argument was a transatlantic one, with a nervous eastern flank pulling against a distracted west.

— Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Definition of nervous

Adjective

Max is accompanied on his adventures by anxious robot C-3PO AB Sitter, and FX, a magical alien masquerading as a toy who can turn the kid's implausibly impressive sand sculptures into fully functioning robots.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 5 July 2026
America’s centennial in 1876 was celebrated with a grand exhibition that projected an image of national unity and inventiveness in the anxious aftermath of civil war and recession.

— The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026