wriggled

past tense of wriggle
1
2
as in crawled
to move slowly with the body close to the ground a worm slowly wriggled across the sidewalk

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wriggled
Verb
  • The open section of their session lasted for 15 minutes — and Howe will have squirmed through every second — but there were laughs amid the stretches and shuttle runs.
    George Caulkin, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Modern Wall Street has killed just about everything cool that walks or crawled at one time or another.
    Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
  • The van’s driver then crawled out of his vehicle’s window, crossed over a median and was instantly struck by a car speeding in the opposite direction, which was broadcast by the news helicopter following the chase.
    Brian Niemietz, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The film will include exclusive witness testimony, expert forensic analysis, and detailed graphic reconstructions that track the moment the thieves infiltrated the museum’s perimeter and vanished with the priceless treasure.
    Peter White, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Meanwhile, on Ukraine’s eastern front, Russian forces have infiltrated the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian officials.
    Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Her hand twitched from the heat.
    Zuzana Říhová, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
  • My hand twitched toward the phone, muscle memory stronger than willpower.
    Maggie Downs, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • For many parts of the country, the average date of the first fall frost has passed, and the chill of autumn nights has already crept in, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
    Stuart Dyos, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Pain crept into the set of his mouth.
    Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • On the other hand, 14 different teams — including one who barely snuck into the preseason top-25 — received at least one Final Four nod.
    The Athletic College Basketball Staff, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Then the third-year tailback snuck to the right and made the wide open grab in the flat.
    Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.
    Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The power management company slid 4% on lackluster third-quarter results .
    Michelle Fox, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Lucas Paqueta equalised, Sven Botman slid the ball into his own net and then Tomas Soucek gilded the scoreline at the death and, through all of it, Newcastle were powerless.
    George Caulkin, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Wriggled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggled. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.

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