wriggle

American  

[rig-uhl] / ˈrɪg əl /

verb (used without object)

wriggled, wriggling

1. to twist to and fro; writhe; squirm.

2. to move along by twisting and turning the body, as a worm or snake.

3. to make one's way by shifts or expedients (often followed byout ).

   to wriggle out of a difficulty.

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verb (used with object)

wriggled, wriggling

1. to cause to wriggle.

   to wriggle one's hips.

2. to bring, get, make, etc., by wriggling.

   to wriggle one's way through a narrow opening.

noun

1. act of wriggling; a wriggling movement.

wriggle British  

/ ˈrɪɡəl /

verb

1. to make or cause to make twisting movements

2. (intr) to progress by twisting and turning

3. (intr; foll by into or out of) to manoeuvre oneself by clever or devious means

   wriggle out of an embarrassing situation

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noun

1. a wriggling movement or action

2. a sinuous marking or course

Other Word Forms

• outwriggle verb (used with object)
• unwriggled adjective
• wriggler noun
• wrigglingly adverb
• wriggly adjective

Etymology

Origin of wriggle

1485–95; < Middle Low German wriggelen (cognate with Dutch wriggelen ), frequentative of *wriggen to twist, turn, akin to Old English wrīgian to twist; see wry

Explanation

To wriggle is to squirm and twist quickly. Think of how hard it is to hold a rambunctious puppy as it wriggles in your arms. Wriggle sounds a lot like wiggle, and the two words very nearly mean the same thing. There is a subtle difference, though: when you wriggle, you twist, turn, or bend as you move. When you wiggle, you make more of a back-and-forth motion. In fact, these two near-homonyms have completely different etymological sources. While wiggle stems from a Germanic root meaning "cradle," wriggle's root means "to turn or bend."

Example Sentences

The rules allowed some wriggle room for Japan to ship weapons and components to key partners under joint-development programs deemed critical to Japan’s security, such as ballistic missile defense systems developed with the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Rather, she’s snared Millie in a trap while desperately trying to wriggle free from one herself.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2026

"You need to have some wriggle room" for when things go wrong, he added.

From BBC • Dec. 14, 2025

An unholy specimen, a building creature that is sufficiently weird, necessary, and profitable to wriggle to life in the city’s stifling landscape of land-use regulations: the double duplex.

From Slate • Jul. 31, 2025

She says this the same way my brother says “slug juice” or “snot” when Carol’s around, and Carol does the same thing, the same wrinkle of the nose, the same wriggle.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• crawl
• sneak
• squirm
• zigzag