1
as in to squirm
to make jerky or restless movements
a toddler wriggling in his seat all throughout the church service
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wriggle
Around them, a dozen children sunk into their parents’ laps — giggling, wriggling and delighted by the story.
—
Jessica Ma, Dallas Morning News, 27 Mar. 2026
Rolling off the bed in a silicon sleep cocoon, Grace gradually evolves from a wriggling larval stage into a fully upright, walking and talking smarty-pants.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Venezuelan fans — who made the long trip to loanDepot Park for the 2026 World Baseball Classic — wriggled with every pitch.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 17 Mar. 2026
Emma wriggled obediently out of the offending articles.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wriggle
Jessica Ma, Dallas Morning News, 27 Mar. 2026
Rolling off the bed in a silicon sleep cocoon, Grace gradually evolves from a wriggling larval stage into a fully upright, walking and talking smarty-pants.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Venezuelan fans — who made the long trip to loanDepot Park for the 2026 World Baseball Classic — wriggled with every pitch.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 17 Mar. 2026
Emma wriggled obediently out of the offending articles.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for wriggle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wriggle
Verb
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For moist at least, a long history as a word associated with bodily discharge coupled with its more recent use as a sexualized word positioned it as one that makes young modern women squirm more than men.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Apr. 2026
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The veterans, of course, are terrific with one later episode set on a plane that finds Mulligan in top squirming form.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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One day after the fights, a toddler managed to crawl under a fence at Hersheypark's ZooAmerica and stick his hand into the wolf enclosure while his parents were reportedly distracted on their cell phones.—
Alexandra Simon,
CBS News,
22 Apr. 2026
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Adobe could be crawling its way out of the software stock abyss, after a buyback and an endorsement from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revived confidence in the digital media provider.—
Sarah Min,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In terms of the complex set design — which looks like a facsimile of the same passage over and over but with subtle differences worming their way in — Kawamura and his team built two identical corridors for cinematographer Keisuke Imamura to follow the actors through, third- and first-person-style.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
15 Apr. 2026
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MomTok got Taylor on the plane and off to star in The Bachelorette, but not before Dakota worms his way in one last time.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Pebbles twitched, branches waggled, cholla wiggled, weeds erupted then dried up and died.—
Alina Hartounian,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2026
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The launch can also be viewed on NASA's social media platforms include Facebook, twitch and X as well as NASA+, the agency's streaming service.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Win it, and suddenly the series tightens, the doubt creeps in and the path gets a lot more complicated for Orlando.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
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For another easy-to-care-for choice that relishes sunlight, look to creeping juniper and its beautifully hazy blue-green leaves.—
Melissa Epifano,
The Spruce,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Scott Roche’s unlikely road to semi-pro football began with prodding from his players, followed by sneaking into a high school stadium to practice.—
Kyle Newman,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
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While others sneak photos of Newsom, a cluster of New York Times reporters just feet away are opting to forgo watching the governor hold court —and are instead watching the Lakers do so.—
Clara Molot,
Vanity Fair,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Trevor Bauer, the former Cy Young Award winner and MLB All-Star, tossed a no-hitter for the independent Long Island Ducks in a 13-0 win over the Lancaster Stormers on Sunday afternoon at Penn Medicine Park in Pennsylvania.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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Now, some things are always going to be worth tossing—anything broken that can't be repaired, for example—but for other items, the line between keep or toss isn't so clear cut.—
Alexandra Kelly,
Martha Stewart,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Edelweiss Snacks extended its standby queue to corral the snaking line of hungry Disneylanders waiting to buy a Garlic Cheesy Brat, according to MiceChat.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
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Another car snakes down the road.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wriggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggle. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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