as in twitching
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1
as in weaving
to cause to twine about one another
tends to writhe his fingers together when he's nervous or upset
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in squirming
to make jerky or restless movements
writhing in pain from his injuries
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Recent Examples of writhing
Hunter Ingram, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
The result left Adebayo writhing in pain, having to be helped off the court, unable to return.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Adebayo stayed down on the court writhing in pain, forcing the Heat to call a timeout.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2026
The camera swept in and among the writhing bodies in a rollicking, kinetic performance.
—ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026
Judith Beheading Holofernes, in which the heroine, with just a bit of a wince, is pictured in mid-decapitation of the writhing enemy, anticipates the action thriller.
—Nicole Krauss, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
Snow was adamant about showing the blood and needles in the film as well as footage of himself writhing in pain on hospital beds and the frustration of waiting hours for doctors to provide adequate dosages of pain medication that can help him.
—Marissa Evans, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
The string arrangements are lovely, lending every song a measure of uplift and writhing texture.
—Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 19 Feb. 2026
Madonna’s floor-writhing performance of the song at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards was a cultural landmark — or landmine — and fueled her rise to becoming one of the biggest musical acts of the 20th century.
—Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026
Noun
Throughout the writhing and the screaming, Julia’s fortitude wears down a defiant Davina, whose history with Lovat feeds the moment.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
Their struggle has upturned the tabletop candle that illuminates the scene and any moment will surely extinguish it, effacing the giddy pattern formed by the writhing bodies and glowing, veiny bladder skin.
—Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
The result left Adebayo writhing in pain, having to be helped off the court, unable to return.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
Adebayo stayed down on the court writhing in pain, forcing the Heat to call a timeout.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2026
The camera swept in and among the writhing bodies in a rollicking, kinetic performance.
—ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026
Judith Beheading Holofernes, in which the heroine, with just a bit of a wince, is pictured in mid-decapitation of the writhing enemy, anticipates the action thriller.
—Nicole Krauss, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
Snow was adamant about showing the blood and needles in the film as well as footage of himself writhing in pain on hospital beds and the frustration of waiting hours for doctors to provide adequate dosages of pain medication that can help him.
—Marissa Evans, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
The string arrangements are lovely, lending every song a measure of uplift and writhing texture.
—Harry Tafoya, Pitchfork, 19 Feb. 2026
Madonna’s floor-writhing performance of the song at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards was a cultural landmark — or landmine — and fueled her rise to becoming one of the biggest musical acts of the 20th century.
—Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for writhing
Noun
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During this phase, octopuses display visible twitching along with rapid changes in skin color and texture, per NPR.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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Gosnell did not testify at his 2013 trial, but his defense attorney argued that none of the fetuses were born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms, according to the AP.—
Greg Norman-Diamond,
FOXNews.com,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Boldly returned for the second period with an exclamation point, setting up Minnesota’s tying goal by weaving around four Dallas challengers, and pulling Oettinger outside the crease, before passing to Eriksson Ek, who had an open net to hit for his third goal of the playoffs.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
23 Apr. 2026
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Oliva also made sure the final look never drifted too far from Taylor’s identity, weaving in subtle elements that kept it grounded in the present.—
Brittany Talarico,
PEOPLE,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
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Like him, Rue is squirming under Laurie’s thumb, anxious to get out.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Use water or a hydrating leave-in spray to prep the hair first, making sure to work the product into your new growth before adding a curl cream or edge control to begin twisting.—
Danielle James,
Allure,
22 Apr. 2026
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Pull them straight out rather than twisting or forcing them.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Sacbee.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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As the court moved to watch the KSTU-TV segment, Tyler Robinson appeared to begin fidgeting, with one of his hands moving and rubbing his fingers back and forth.—
Stepheny Price , Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
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The design was inspired by the hair-tearing boredom of COVID lockdown-era remote work, a time in which Knafs founder Ben Petersen maintained sanity during Zoom calls by fidgeting around with pocket knives and doodling pictures.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Colorado’s lone goal was a result of some Matt Wells tactical fiddling — and Keegan Rosenberry playing like his job’s on the line — gone right.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 2026
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Because the two cameras on the drone are rotatable via a pivot mechanism, the drone can also just use one camera, pointing forward, to shoot conventional 4K videos, meaning these are just regular videos with set framing and do not need any fiddling in post-production.—
Ben Sin,
Forbes.com,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Maton made a rehab appearance at Triple A on Friday night, tossing a scoreless inning while allowing two hits, no walks and striking out two on 25 pitches.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Apr. 2026
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For Young, that means tossing aside a blocker, a process Minter likened to a train wreck.—
Jeff Zrebiec,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Packed with numerous squirm-worthy scenes and strong commentary on impossible beauty standards, this film is best watched when the clock strikes midnight.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
21 Feb. 2026
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Even the normally surefire element of a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, with its blasts of dissonance pumping up the squirm factor, adds to the heavy-going effect of a movie that seems to go out of its way to be grating.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Writhing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/writhing. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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