FIDGETED Synonyms: 29 Similar and Opposite Words

fidgeted

verb

past tense of fidget

as in twitched

to make jerky or restless movements small children are likely to fidget in church

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fidgeted One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby. — David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026 Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children. — Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026 Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat. — Jacqui Gifford, Travel + Leisure, 29 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fidgeted

Verb

Just then, Chee Meng’s fishing rod twitched, and the line began to run out.

— Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of twitched

Verb

Laura squirmed under her mother’s gaze, willed the light to turn green.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
Belloumi’s 64th-minute strike with his left foot broke the deadlock in the second game of the two-leg affair and Gelhardt made sure with a low shot that squirmed past the Millwall goalkeeper.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 May 2026

Definition of squirmed

Verb

During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Somewhere nearby, in a dark office, an eavesdropping oreja has just jerked to attention on his hard little chair.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of jerked

Verb

But what does some scientist know about eating fruit, of all things, when your hamstring feels like it’s being fiddled by Satan?

— Dan England, Outside, 5 Feb. 2026
As Rossini stowed her purse in a tiny back office, a manager named Katie Atlas was onboarding a new employee, a young woman who fiddled nervously with her necklace.

— Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

Definition of fiddled

Verb

Imanaga wiggled out of a one-out double in the first, then was supported by Pete Crow-Armstrong’s eighth leadoff home run of the season and the second in as many games.

— Andy Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Hawaii put runners on base in each of the first four innings, but Kirk wiggled out of it until the fifth when Waiki Doctolero blasted a three-run home run to get Hawaii back in the game.

— Dennis Pope, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of wiggled

Browse Nearby Words

fidget

fidgeted

fidgetiness

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Style

“Fidgeted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fidgeted. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of fidgeted

verb

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