wriggled

verb

past tense of wriggle
1
as in squirmed
to make jerky or restless movements a toddler wriggling in his seat all throughout the church service

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crawled
to move slowly with the body close to the ground a worm slowly wriggled across the sidewalk

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3
as in infiltrated
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way within a month of his arrival, this social upstart had wriggled himself into the family's good graces

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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 wriggled Countless individual tread blocks, divided by wide grooves, wriggled around instead of digging in. — Michael Harley, Forbes.com, 30 June 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 Play was recycled and Harrison Armstrong ended up firing a good chance too close to goalkeeper Senne Lammens after Iliman Ndiaye had wriggled free down the right. — Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026 Emma wriggled obediently out of the offending articles. — Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026 In the soil in his palm, an earthworm wriggled. — Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 26 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wriggled
  1. squirmed
  2. crawled
  3. infiltrated
  4. twitched
  5. crept
  6. sneaked
  7. fidgeted
  8. slid
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.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 May 2026
  • His Japanese guest, usually a paragon of diplomatic cool, visibly squirmed.
    — Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 14 Apr. 2026
Definition of squirmed
Verb
  • Primus crawled from the same California soup that gave birth to a host of funk-metal acts in the 1980s, following Fishbone, Faith No More, and, most infamously, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
    — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Mysterio went for the Three Amigos, but Danhausen blocked the last attempt and crawled to the corner.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • The near-tangible odor has infiltrated every corner of Alicia Naranjo’s home, which is six houses down from the warehouse.
    — Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Still, bits and pieces of the avant-garde dream infiltrated the mainstream.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 29 July 2026
Definition of infiltrated
Verb
  • 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, Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
Definition of twitched
Verb
  • With a practice script in hand, Shanahan has crept closer to some offensive drills.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • As the population grew, and construction and pollution crept closer to water sources, many springs have since dried up or receded to thin trickles.
    — Umar Farooq, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of crept
Verb
  • Federal officials are investigating a security breach over the weekend at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a man snuck into a JetBlue aircraft during maintenance, according to the Broward County Aviation Department.
    — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Most recently, Hadid seemingly snuck a photo of Cooper in a July Instagram carousel.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of sneaked
Verb
  • One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.
    — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026
  • 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.
    — Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026
Definition of fidgeted
Verb
  • Cole Martin, who primarily played safety for UCLA last season, slid down to defend the slot, while Malik Hartford played behind him.
    — Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Squiban slid off her bike heading into a turn on a downhill section and landed heavily on her left side.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of slid

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Cite this Entry

“Wriggled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggled. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of wriggled for Spanish Speakers

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