1
as in fidgeted
to make jerky or restless movements
the dog twitched in her sleep
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in jerked
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion
the rabbit twitched its nose
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 twitched
Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites.
—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.
—
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Pebbles twitched, branches waggled, cholla wiggled, weeds erupted then dried up and died.
—
Alina Hartounian,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2026
Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.
—
Freida Frisaro,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.
—
Scott Haugen,
Outdoor Life,
4 Feb. 2026
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete.
—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
The bonito’s body twitched until Yamasaki slid a thin metal wire down the column of its spinal cord, a second step called shinkei jime, which arrests its nervous system.
—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
Their usefulness remains an open question At the back of a conference hall at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, a humanoid robot twitched through a preprogrammed wave for a crowd of cell phone cameras—a classic scene of high spectacle and unclear utility at CES.
—
Eric Sullivan,
Scientific American,
6 Jan. 2026
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.
—
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Pebbles twitched, branches waggled, cholla wiggled, weeds erupted then dried up and died.
—
Alina Hartounian,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2026
Kearse twitched briefly after the lethal drugs began entering his system but stopped moving several minutes later.
—
Freida Frisaro,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
Through the scope, a polar bear twitched on the ice, 25 yards in front of me.
—
Scott Haugen,
Outdoor Life,
4 Feb. 2026
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete.
—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
The bonito’s body twitched until Yamasaki slid a thin metal wire down the column of its spinal cord, a second step called shinkei jime, which arrests its nervous system.
—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
Their usefulness remains an open question At the back of a conference hall at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas, a humanoid robot twitched through a preprogrammed wave for a crowd of cell phone cameras—a classic scene of high spectacle and unclear utility at CES.
—
Eric Sullivan,
Scientific American,
6 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for twitched
Verb
-
One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.
-
Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children.
Verb
-
Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard.
-
Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled.
Verb
-
Belloumi’s 64th-minute strike with his left foot broke the deadlock in the second game of the two-leg affair and Gelhardt made sure with a low shot that squirmed past the Millwall goalkeeper.
-
His Japanese guest, usually a paragon of diplomatic cool, visibly squirmed.
Verb
-
Within days of its release, Anthropic’s most sophisticated public AI model was abruptly yanked from customers.
-
With two outs and a runner on, Sasaki yanked a splitter to the inside edge of the strike zone to Gunnar Henderson, who lifted it over the wall in right field.
Verb
-
The governor, at first, tossed the question to Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper.
-
But the referee caught him and tossed him from the match.
Verb
-
Latin America has lurched rightward in recent elections, as governments scramble to curtail violence stemming from record cocaine production.
-
As the carriage lurched forward, the teen’s mother fell from the vehicle, prompting Romanch Mahajan to jump out in an effort to help her, The Times reported.
Verb
-
Femi tried to hit Lesnar with a Fall from Grace, but Lesnar wiggled out of it.
-
De Avila nearly wiggled out of a huge jam in the first inning, producing two strikeouts after the Knights loaded the bases with no outs.
Verb
-
After the network successfully pulled together a motley crew of Real Housewives offspring and their Manhattan socialite friends last year, the gang is back for a second season in the city.
-
Arraez pulled a 1-1 curveball from the Athletics’ Aaron Civale off the top of his right foot and collapsed to the ground in pain.
Cite this Entry
“Twitched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/twitched. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
