wriggling

Moving like worms

Wriggling describes the twisting, squirming motion of a body or body part, typically in short, quick movements.

Worms and snakes wriggle naturally, and children wriggle when restless or trying to escape a parent's grip.

The word extends to any situation involving uncomfortable squirming or evasive maneuvering: He kept wriggling in his seat during the long meeting.

To wriggle out of something is to escape an obligation or uncomfortable situation through clever evasion.

movement

writhing

Twisting the body convulsively

wigglingMoving with small twists
slitheringSmooth limbless locomotion
twistingRotating with distortion

thrashing · flailing · undulating · coiling · twitching · jiggling · fidgeting · jerking · quivering · shimmying

creatures

earthworm

Segmented soil-dwelling invertebrate

maggotImmature fly stage
larvaeImmature metamorphosing creatures
caterpillarMoth or butterfly young

tadpole · eel · snake · leech · grub · minnow · centipede · inchworm · nematode · worm

escape

squirm

Twist from discomfort

slitherGlide smoothly, sinuously
extricateFree from entanglement
slip awayDepart without detection

twist out · break free · disentangle · untangle · evade · elude · contort · maneuver

Categories

locomotionwalking, running, crawling, swimming, flying
restlessnessrestlessness, fidgeting, fidgets, agitation, nervousness
erratic motionthrashing, flailing, jerking, lurching, twitching
biological movementlocomotion, crawling, walking, running, swimming
Unsteady Motionshake, vibrate, vibration, tremor, oscillating
deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud

Opposites

motion/movement

wrigglingstill

Unmoving, or continuing

motionless · stationary · unmoving · immobile · nonmoving

manner of movement

wrigglinggliding

Engineless aerial movement

rigid · stiff · sliding · straight · smooth

Phrases

wriggling out ofAvoiding by cunning

Family

Familiarity: Top 50,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G