as in trembling
a series of slight movements by a body back and forth or from side to side
the twitching of my cat's ears was a signal that I should stop petting her before she got any angrier
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in fidgeting
to make jerky or restless movements
the dog twitched in her sleep
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in jerking
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.
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Recent Examples of twitching
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
14 May 2026
During this phase, octopuses display visible twitching along with rapid changes in skin color and texture, per NPR.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses were born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms, according to the AP.
—
Greg Norman-Diamond,
FOXNews.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses was born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms.
—
ABC News,
23 Mar. 2026
The disease, which gets worse over time, starts with muscle twitching, slurred speech, or weakness in an arm or leg.
—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
20 Feb. 2026
After 10 weeks without food, Muraisi is experiencing involuntary muscular twitching and severe chest pains, according to Prisoners for Palestine, with her doctors warning of possible cardiovascular collapse.
—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, as Decker did.
—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
The more serious side effects of caffeine overdose include trouble breathing, sudden high blood pressure, muscle twitching, confusion, vomiting and seizures.
—
News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
21 June 2026
Leon Stetson was allegedly twitching, so officers moved him away from Carrie Stetson and started to render medical aid.
—
Kellie Love,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
Durrell alternates between slapstick domestic high jinks, wanderings through the lush natural landscape, and increasingly ambitious investigations of biological life, from tracking twitching bacteria in pond water to the mating habits of insects.
—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
10 June 2026
The Hormuz crisis will not end when oil markets stop twitching.
—
John W.h. Denton Ao,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
The Buena Vista Social Club features feet-twitching music and Wolf says that, obviously, people want to get up and dance but that’s just not allowed.
—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
2 June 2026
Here, American fighter planes, cargo ships and Japanese freighters have spent decades transforming into thriving artificial reefs, draped in coral and surrounded by twitching clouds of tropical fish.
—
Dea Jusufi,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2026
Curry’s body began convulsing and twitching with increasing severity, consistent with him sustaining a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the face, documents state.
—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
So when an octopus starts flashing colors and twitching in its sleep, the parallels are hard to ignore.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
Casting near banks and using a twitching technique can increase success during the hatch.
—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
14 May 2026
During this phase, octopuses display visible twitching along with rapid changes in skin color and texture, per NPR.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses were born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms, according to the AP.
—
Greg Norman-Diamond,
FOXNews.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses was born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms.
—
ABC News,
23 Mar. 2026
The disease, which gets worse over time, starts with muscle twitching, slurred speech, or weakness in an arm or leg.
—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
20 Feb. 2026
After 10 weeks without food, Muraisi is experiencing involuntary muscular twitching and severe chest pains, according to Prisoners for Palestine, with her doctors warning of possible cardiovascular collapse.
—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, as Decker did.
—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
The more serious side effects of caffeine overdose include trouble breathing, sudden high blood pressure, muscle twitching, confusion, vomiting and seizures.
—
News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
There is something cultish about that idea — the player who tends not to start but has the knack to appear later on with antennae twitching, ready to seize the day and alter the course of a match.
—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
21 June 2026
Leon Stetson was allegedly twitching, so officers moved him away from Carrie Stetson and started to render medical aid.
—
Kellie Love,
Hartford Courant,
12 June 2026
Durrell alternates between slapstick domestic high jinks, wanderings through the lush natural landscape, and increasingly ambitious investigations of biological life, from tracking twitching bacteria in pond water to the mating habits of insects.
—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
10 June 2026
The Hormuz crisis will not end when oil markets stop twitching.
—
John W.h. Denton Ao,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
The Buena Vista Social Club features feet-twitching music and Wolf says that, obviously, people want to get up and dance but that’s just not allowed.
—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
2 June 2026
Here, American fighter planes, cargo ships and Japanese freighters have spent decades transforming into thriving artificial reefs, draped in coral and surrounded by twitching clouds of tropical fish.
—
Dea Jusufi,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2026
Curry’s body began convulsing and twitching with increasing severity, consistent with him sustaining a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the face, documents state.
—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
So when an octopus starts flashing colors and twitching in its sleep, the parallels are hard to ignore.
—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for twitching
Noun
-
All the trembling, as Kimbangu touched the sick, alarmed European settlers and reassured the plantation workers who trekked to Nkamba in search of healing.
-
At first this change of scale vivifies the butterfly—its brief stillness, the angle of its wings, its trembling—while freezing everything else, including the novel’s action.
Verb
-
In addition to having lofty themes, this is also a fairly rousing adventure with enough visual panache to keep any kid from fidgeting in his seat.
-
Pekara said hospital surveillance footage captured him fidgeting under the blanket.
Verb
-
Watching their relationship devolve (never more so than when their sperm donor, a rakish, motorcycle-driving restaurant owner played by Mark Ruffalo, enters the scene) is most definitely a tear-jerking experience, as is the film’s final scene.
-
Some were petty — like Reese committing a foul against Clark, then jerking her head back, impersonating Clark as a flopper.
Noun
-
Earthquakes' sudden, rapid shaking can cause fires, tsunamis, landslides or avalanches.
-
Engineers said that older housing erected in the 1950s and 1960s — before modern earthquake standards were adopted — may not have been retrofitted to survive such violent shaking.
Verb
-
Unless your companion could use a hand or is traveling with young kids (in the latter case, if this person also happens to be your spouse or partner, really not cool to leave them with the stroller, diaper bag, squirming kids).
-
The player who was hit by the cart immediately grabbed his thigh and knee area while squirming in pain on the ground.
Verb
-
Now, with the federal and state government yanking back plenty of that funding and directly barring the city from enacting some of its more aggressive climate plans, Higgins is left with a narrow road to tread toward progress.
-
The virtual oar-yanking celebration in a baseball atmosphere was one of those weird juxtapositions that seem to get fostered whenever a World Cup fanbase descends upon a host city.
Noun
-
The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead.
-
The old dog slowed to a stop, nose full of bird stink, feathery tail quivering.
Verb
-
Roughly chop the smashed cucumbers before tossing them with the vinaigrette.
-
Paula quickly gets rid of the gun, tossing it in the garbage of the police station bathroom, but pockets the flash drive.
Cite this Entry
“Twitching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/twitching. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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