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
  • 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
  • Their father dismounted, went down on foot, climbed the fence his son had crawled under.
    — Emily Ruskovich, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • The Ukrainian military said Saturday that small groups of Russian soldiers had infiltrated the town, but counter-sabotage operations were ongoing.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
  • The same informant then infiltrated a second conference, in 2020.
    — Keith O’Brien, New Yorker, 25 June 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
  • Authorities offered no immediate crowd count as the truck crept down the street.
    — Nasser Karimi, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • When the rain cleared, an American flag that covered most of the outfield was unfurled during the national anthem, and the fog slowly crept in.
    — Andy Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of crept
Verb
  • When grounders sneaked through the infield, his body language was uneventful.
    — Spencer Nusbaum, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Some stuff released a bit earlier this week and snuck past me.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 4 July 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
  • Max Homa, who arrived with momentum after a runner-up finish at the John Deere Classic and opened with a 67, slid down the leaderboard after a clunky second round.
    — Mike Dojc, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • The 26-year-old from Canada rounded second and slid headfirst into third to beat the relay throw, getting a huge ovation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 July 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 15 Jul. 2026.

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