Definition

Adjective: 1. Moving with a twisting or sinuous motion: Describes something that moves by making quick, short, twisting or writhing movements, similar to a snake or worm. 2. Squirming; fidgeting: Can describe a person or creature that is restless and makes small twisting movements.

Usage Examples

• Describing an animal's movement:
  • The angler used a wriggly worm as bait.
  • We watched the wriggly larvae in the soil.
• Describing a person's movement or restlessness:
  • The toddler was too wriggly to sit still for the photo.
  • He tried to hold the wriggly puppy still.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative Use: Can describe something that is difficult to pin down or grasp, either physically or conceptually.
  • The politician gave a wriggly answer to avoid the direct question. (This implies an evasive, squirming response.)

Variants and Related Words

• Wriggle (verb): To twist and turn the body with quick, short movements.
  • The child tried to wriggle free from his grasp.
• Wriggler (noun): One who or that which wriggles (often used for insect larvae).
  • The pond was full of mosquito wrigglers.

Synonyms

• Squirming: Making twisting movements of the body.
• Writhing: Making continual twisting, squirming movements, often due to discomfort.
• Sinuous: Having many curves and turns (more often describes a shape than a movement).
• Fidgety: Inclined to move about restlessly.

Antonyms

• Still: Not moving.
• Motionless: Without movement.
• Stiff: Rigid; not able to bend or twist easily.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• (As) wriggly as an eel: A simile emphasizing something is very slippery and hard to hold, both literally and figuratively.
  • The suspect was as wriggly as an eel during the interrogation.

Adjective

1. moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
   • wiggly worms