1
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
flooded residents who were forced to trudge through waist-deep water
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stumbling
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
no expert on taxes, I spent the whole weekend trudging through government forms
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 trudging
In the engaging trailer that continues the sinister tale of Vault-Tec, The Ghoul arrives in New Vegas alongside Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) and Dogmeat, trudging into the outskirts of New Vegas.
—
Jeff Spry, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Without a doubt there are people who would pay serious money to see Jeffrey Katzenberg hanging out and trudging through the sand and dirt at Burning Man.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
They were left operating on fumes by the end, with Ollie Watkins — Duran’s replacement — starved of service and Morgan Rogers consigned to trudging off the pitch, knowing his long dribbling bursts would have scant options ahead of him.
—Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
Standard time brings more sunshine to earlier hours, insuring that children are not trudging to school in cold-weather darkness.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 22 Dec. 2024
The ones on sleds congregated on the side table in the dining room, which had a surface of snow-like white marble, and the ones lugging sacks occupied the living room coffee table, as though trudging down from the North Pole.
—Andrew Solomon, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2024
The Dakota boots are armored in waterproof rubber and have a rugged outsole, so trudging through sleet and snow is no issue.
—Emily Weaver, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
My boots were dusty from trudging through vineyards.
—Megan Lloyd, Travel + Leisure, 7 Dec. 2024
His England side though barely got out of second gear in South Africa and were eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in the round of 16 after trudging through the group stage with draws against the USA and Algeria.
—Steve Price, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024
Jeff Spry, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Without a doubt there are people who would pay serious money to see Jeffrey Katzenberg hanging out and trudging through the sand and dirt at Burning Man.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 22 Aug. 2025
They were left operating on fumes by the end, with Ollie Watkins — Duran’s replacement — starved of service and Morgan Rogers consigned to trudging off the pitch, knowing his long dribbling bursts would have scant options ahead of him.
—Jacob Tanswell, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
Standard time brings more sunshine to earlier hours, insuring that children are not trudging to school in cold-weather darkness.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 22 Dec. 2024
The ones on sleds congregated on the side table in the dining room, which had a surface of snow-like white marble, and the ones lugging sacks occupied the living room coffee table, as though trudging down from the North Pole.
—Andrew Solomon, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2024
The Dakota boots are armored in waterproof rubber and have a rugged outsole, so trudging through sleet and snow is no issue.
—Emily Weaver, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
My boots were dusty from trudging through vineyards.
—Megan Lloyd, Travel + Leisure, 7 Dec. 2024
His England side though barely got out of second gear in South Africa and were eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in the round of 16 after trudging through the group stage with draws against the USA and Algeria.
—Steve Price, Forbes, 16 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trudging
Verb
-
The three actors were filming a lighthearted scene, shuffling excitedly between a hot sauna and cold plunge, when Reeves’ foot caught on some flooring.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The film essentially takes place entirely within an under-20-minute timeline, showing the same events from a shuffling deck of points of view.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
His arrival home each night is announced by his sputtering motorcycle and his drunken stumbling up the stairs.—
Adam Solomons,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Whew The last thing a team wants to see is its starting quarterback stumbling to the sideline four plays into the season.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Cena’s chrome-domed antihero, Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante and and Danielle Brooks’ Adebayo stomping through spots of light.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
21 Aug. 2025
-
No velvet rope, no fourth wall—just boot-stomping, beer-sign neon and crowd-absorption tech.—
Bob Bonniol,
Rolling Stone,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Even with Muchová so clearly struggling, Osaka faced some weird jeopardy down the stretch.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
-
However, even people who have these more 'substantial' degrees are struggling.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trudging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trudging. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share