Thesaurus results for WORMED

wormed

verb

past tense of worm

as in encroached

to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits neighborhoods worming into lands reserved for wildlife

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in infiltrated

to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over a period of several years, the undercover agent was able to worm his way into the drug kingpin's confidence

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in crept

to move slowly with the body close to the ground the cat silently wormed along the ground as it snuck up on the bird

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 wormed Like parasites, those jukebox musicals wormed their way into Broadway and slowly killed the medium. — Jesse Eisenberg, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 OpenAI’s ChatGPT has wormed its way into more and more parts of consumers’ lives, from work to their children’s education, and even mental health and romantic relationships. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 16 May 2026 The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum initially believed that the bug, which eluded detection and caused countless medical issues, wormed its way into her system while filming Bravo's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco in early 2023. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026 We as a community contain (often brain-wormed) multitudes, as evidenced by this year’s plethora gay Halloween costumes. — Abby Monteil, Them., 31 Oct. 2025 After a scramble from Baltimore’s corner kick, Kerr’s header at the back post wormed through a thicket of defenders, and Cuthbert had the final touch. — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 This story has wormed its way into all levels of British cultural output. — Will Collins, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wormed

Verb

Lawyers for both YouTube and Meta also consistently posed questions throughout the trial about whether the evidence and arguments encroached on legal protections for tech companies around content posted by third parties.

— Kaitlyn Huamani, Fortune, 15 July 2026
Ditching a 90-year-old decision, the court said restrictions Congress placed on a president’s ability to remove members of independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission encroached on presidential power.

— Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 1 July 2026

Definition of encroached

Verb

If 2025 was the year AI infiltrated every corner of consumer life — from social feeds to shopping — 2026 is the year people are pausing for thought.

— Amy O’Brien, Vogue, 14 July 2026
But in this case, Kamdang said, Patriot Front members faced no criminal charges and their identities were only revealed when online activists later infiltrated the group and leaked internal records.

— Odette Yousef, NPR, 11 July 2026

Definition of infiltrated

Verb

Some 10 men armed with clubs and crowbars crept into the warehouse, unaware that their inside man had changed his mind and ratted them out.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 July 2026
Additionally, coffee intake was self-reported, meaning that inaccuracies could have crept in.

— Stephanie Anderson Witmer, Health, 21 July 2026

Definition of crept

Verb

Flash flood warnings were then issued again for New York City and nearby states as thunderstorms crawled across the region on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

— Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 23 July 2026
Hull testified that Robinson later returned in different clothing, walking with a limp, rolled onto the roof of a building on campus and crawled to the edge of the rooftop around the time the shot was fired.

— N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 10 July 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

Food trucks reopened after the storm and long lines snaked around the vendor area.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 4 July 2026
The famous crack snaked through during its ringing at the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835 and widened beyond repair in 1846 while marking George Washington’s birthday.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 June 2026

Definition of snaked

Verb

Since 2017, Hebden has built up a tidy discography of sub rosa loosies and EPs under the alias, and even snuck out an ultra-limited vinyl anthology of them in 2021; some of those tracks first surfaced on the Four Tet album Parallel, in 2020.

— Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 18 July 2026
On Thursday, a man named Andrew Truelove allegedly snuck past a security guard on the Today show set and made his way toward the co-hosts in search of Today’s Al Roker, who was not on-screen at the time.

— Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 17 July 2026

Definition of sneaked

Browse Nearby Words

worm

wormed

wormhole

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“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of wormed

verb

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