WRIGGLED Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

wriggled

verb

past tense of wriggle

as in squirmed

to make jerky or restless movements a toddler wriggling in his seat all throughout the church service

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in crawled

to move slowly with the body close to the ground a worm slowly wriggled across the sidewalk

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 On a couple of occasions, the teenager took the ball facing his own goal and, seemingly forced to go backwards, simply turned and wriggled the other way to move into acres of space, getting City up the pitch. — Sam Lee, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 The baby squirrel wriggled, knocked from its forest home in the storm. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026 Countless individual tread blocks, divided by wide grooves, wriggled around instead of digging in. — Michael Harley, Forbes.com, 30 June 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

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

The technology isn’t perfect, Walsh said; if Gus had crawled beneath a bush to sleep, the camera wouldn’t necessarily find him.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
Suki, who had been with her new family only a few weeks, had crawled into an opening in an entertainment center cabinet and could not get out.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

Israel wants the agency known as UNRWA out of Gaza and has repeatedly accused it of being infiltrated by Hamas militants, allegations the International Court of Justice says have not been substantiated.

— Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
An OpenAI agent infiltrated an Australian government website in June, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said when speaking to reporters at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

— Emily Forlini, Fortune, 24 Sep. 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

Twisty the clown crept around, Rubber Man made a second appearance, and black dahlias festooned every table.

— Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2026
Griffin Jax tossed five shutout innings and the Tampa Bay Rays crept closer to the AL East title with a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

— CBS News, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of crept

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

And Ohtani slid into the Dodgers’ lineup, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, with Mookie Betts leading off against the Padres southpaw.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
Arm Holdings — The chip company slid about 6% after the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that finance chief Jason Child sold 10,400 shares of Arm.

— Michelle Fox,Darla Mercado, CFP®, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of slid

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“Wriggled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggled. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of wriggled

verb

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