Synonyms of tugged

tugged

verb

past tense of tug

1

as in pulled

to cause to follow by applying steady force on

tugged on the door until it opened

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulled
• hauled
• dragged
• towed
• drew
• carried
• yanked
• heaved
• haled
• jerked
• lugged
• attracted
• moved
• transported
• conveyed
• ferried

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pushed
• drove
• propelled
• thrust
• shoved

2

as in struggled

to devote serious and sustained effort

she's tugged all her life to get to where she is now in the business world

Synonyms & Similar Words

• struggled
• labored
• worked
• endeavored
• tried
• hustled
• plowed
• dug (away)
• toiled
• humped
• strove
• plugged
• strained
• plodded
• grubbed
• sweat
• slaved
• drudged
• fagged
• slogged
• pegged (away)
• travailed
• banged away
• attacked
• moiled
• scratched
• drove
• dug in
• sweat blood
• exerted
• applied (oneself)
• essayed
• waded
• buckled (down)
• beavered (away)
• hammered (away)
• trudged
• pitched in
• exercised
• scrabbled
• eked out
• overworked
• knuckled down
• overexerted
• put out
• ground (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• broke
• slackened
• eased (up)
• let up
• chilled
• shirked
• idled
• lounged
• hung (around or out)
• rested
• dallied
• bummed
• unwound
• relaxed
• lazed
• loafed
• hung
• hacked (around)
• slacked (off)
• lolled
• goofed (off)
• played
• basked
• reposed
• dabbled
• goldbricked
• dillydallied
• trifled
• doodled
• footled
• vegged out
• fooled around
• messed around
• hung about
• puttered (around)
• goofed (around)
• pottered (around)
• monkeyed (around)
• fribbled

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tugged

In the first half especially, the away team tugged Arsenal around, and might easily have built upon that early Rogers goal. — Jack Lang, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

The late night host tugged at her sleeve cutout to get a look at the ink. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 27 Aug. 2026

The seas have been kind, or at least kinder than expected, to SpaceX's Starship spacecraft, as it's been tugged through the Indian Ocean to friendlier tides. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Hicks broke up a Mahomes pass to Noah Gray, but Hicks could have tugged Gray before making the play. — Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 11 Aug. 2026

The incident appeared to have tugged on something much deeper. — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026

Either way, the spread of kudzu, Burmese pythons, Joro spiders, mosquitoes, killer bees, and Asiatic false hawk’s-beards, to name just a few, has tugged on some primal taproot in us. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Meanwhile, other storylines were timely and tugged at heartstrings, such as when her character officiated the first gay male wedding on daytime TV in a 2014 episode following Marlena’s emotional coming-out scenes with her grandson. — Jeff Nelson, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026

The border shifted and changed hands here at least four times in the 19th century and a fifth time in the 20th, tugged south by war and treaty, peace talks and purchases. — Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 28 June 2026