slither

verb

slith·​er ˈsli-t͟hər 

slithered; slithering; slithers

intransitive verb

1

: to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake

transitive verb

: to cause to slide

Synonyms of slither

• snake
• crawl
• creep
• slide

Examples of slither in a Sentence

The snake slithered through the garden.

To get under the porch, I lay on my stomach and slithered like a snake.

She slithered quietly into the room.

He slithered his hand around her waist.

Recent Examples on the Web

As in real life, her bangs hover close to her eyebrows, but in this portrait, green snakes slither through her hair. — Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026

Judges often add some time to a sentence when a defendant has told a series of porkies while trying to slither out of trouble from the witness stand. — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026

But almost from the beginning, some people questioned whether a Gaboon viper really could be slithering through the Orange County city. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Saint Laurent‘s shining gold shoes slithered down the spring 2027 runway on Tuesday to become the talk of Paris Fashion Week, with sculptural snake heels among the collection’s standout footwear. — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English slideren, from Old English slidrian, frequentative of slīdan to slide

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for slither

• cither
• dither
• hither
• ither
• thither
• whither
• zither

Kids Definition

slither

verb

slith·​er ˈslit͟h-ər 

1

: to slide or cause to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake