1
as in pulled
to cause to follow by applying steady force on
tugged on the door until it opened
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tugged
Sure, the sequence largely swipes away hints given prior that Bowser was an absent father, but in a film where most of the characters veer toward the blandly nice, watching a dad and his son bond over their same sociopathic tendencies was the only moment that tugged at the heartstrings.
—
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 31 Mar. 2026
Smoldering at the camera, the star—who’s currently dating Scooter Braun—tugged down the straps of the plum-chocolate bra and covered her chest with her hands.
—Lara Walsh, InStyle, 7 Mar. 2026
When owner Nicholas Iwaniuk saw his dog Shadow, the half Australian shepherd, half Australian cattle dog tugged at her leash, charged forward and jumped into his arms.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
From life’s first moments, multiplying cells are squished, stretched, and tugged to form tissues that bend and twist into organs that expand and contract.
—Clare Watson, Quanta Magazine, 27 Feb. 2026
And when Sky and Virginia were playing in a backyard sandpit one day, her little brother tugged on her T-shirt, pointing toward a snake.
—Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2026
Baseball still tugged at his heart.
—Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026
Yelkur ranked Google’s Gemini commercial about imagining a new home as one of the most emotionally appealing, likeable ads that tugged at the heartstrings.
—Lorena O’Neil, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
After a few demonstrations, Destiny tugged the cord the way Carol showed us, and the bike roared to life.
—Hazlitt, 4 Feb. 2026
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 31 Mar. 2026
Smoldering at the camera, the star—who’s currently dating Scooter Braun—tugged down the straps of the plum-chocolate bra and covered her chest with her hands.
—Lara Walsh, InStyle, 7 Mar. 2026
When owner Nicholas Iwaniuk saw his dog Shadow, the half Australian shepherd, half Australian cattle dog tugged at her leash, charged forward and jumped into his arms.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
From life’s first moments, multiplying cells are squished, stretched, and tugged to form tissues that bend and twist into organs that expand and contract.
—Clare Watson, Quanta Magazine, 27 Feb. 2026
And when Sky and Virginia were playing in a backyard sandpit one day, her little brother tugged on her T-shirt, pointing toward a snake.
—Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 21 Feb. 2026
Baseball still tugged at his heart.
—Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026
Yelkur ranked Google’s Gemini commercial about imagining a new home as one of the most emotionally appealing, likeable ads that tugged at the heartstrings.
—Lorena O’Neil, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
After a few demonstrations, Destiny tugged the cord the way Carol showed us, and the bike roared to life.
—Hazlitt, 4 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tugged
Verb
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The win pulled the Magic (44-36) up to seventh place in the tight race for playoff/play-in positions.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Then Disney executives pulled the plug on them.—
Zack Sharf,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The four-seam fastball was better, that’s something he’s struggled with the command of.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
-
He was signed with Växjö in the SHL and dominated with their J20 team, but struggled early on in the season, resulting in a loan to Nybro in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But he was hauled back into court in August 2024 to answer to new allegations that also attempted to poison his daughter, who was then 10, using the same method.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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From the near-panoramic window of our room at the Spindrift, we were greeted each morning by sea otters floating on their backs in the kelp beds, pods of dolphins arcing through the swell and the occasional seal hauled out on a nearby promontory.—
Alexandra Genova,
TheWeek,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Senators already labored for weeks to try to find agreement on Democrats’ demand that any funding for the Department of Homeland Security come with restrictions on how federal immigration agents conduct enforcement.—
Joey Cappelletti,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Lamarck surely labored over these Romantic effusions.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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His daughter, Erin Gerber, dragged her three-year-old son onto the front lawn when the vehicle approached the driveway.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Extortion attempts from that campaign dragged on for months.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Cazares and Grant-Dawson worked together to get the Bay Area-district out of insolvency, after which HYA Corporation took over fiscal responsibility.—
Scott Lebar. Story produced with AI assistance,
Sacbee.com,
5 Apr. 2026
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The beneficiary of Adell’s first catch was starter Jack Kochanowicz, who worked 5⅔ innings, with seven strikeouts.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Johnson for months endeavored to appoint his ally ex-Ald.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Along the way, Pollan endeavored to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions of existence, like why is there a subjective self at all?—
Nick Hilden,
Rolling Stone,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tugged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tugged. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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