PLODDED Synonyms: 165 Similar and Opposite Words

plodded

verb

past tense of plod

as in labored

to devote serious and sustained effort plodded night and day to get the assignment done

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stumbled

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually oxen plodding through deep mud

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in dragged

to move slowly plodded reluctantly off to work

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in shuffled

to move heavily or clumsily wayfarers plodding across the sandy wastes

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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 plodded An hour into the match, Villa Park — tense as the home side plodded against Leeds United a goal down — broke out in excitement. — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 Loaded trucks plodded through the crowd with people in their cargo beds throwing tomatoes at the revelers — who, in turn, hurled them at one another. — ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026 Minnesota’s defense has been unreliable lately, but Wisconsin’s offense has plodded most of the year. — Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 28 Nov. 2025 For months, the two initiatives plodded along, with photo ops and declarations of good will. — Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025 The Demon Deacons coach ran towards Belichick while removing his hat as the six-time Super Bowl champion coach plodded his way across the field for a blow-by handshake. — Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plodded

Verb

Jaylen Wright labored all week, fighting his way back from a foot injury that sidelined him the previous game.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2026
With the Dodgers’ lead cut to one run, Skubal labored through the rest of the sixth inning, issuing a pair of walks, his first of the game.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of labored

Verb

Students sitting with arms linked at the elbows could only see in shards through a picket of shin guards, restricting their view of the area where classmates and roommates were dragged one by one and zip-tied face down on the spring grass.

— Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
As Findley dragged the driver from the truck, Deputy Chase Blatt, driving north on I-35, saw the fire and the driver being pulled from the truck.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of dragged

Verb

In the midst of the rush to finish my syllabi and opening week assignments, as my husband shuffled the kids into their sneakers and Crocs and the car for one last back-to-school outing, everything stopped.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
There was the sound of the occasional slipper scraping across the carpet as players and coaches shuffled from the showers.

— Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of shuffled

Verb

Some poor families trudged from one village to another, falling victim to violence, hunger and cold.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
And, like any good party, someone had a notion that the others loved — and so the players trudged back onto the field to have a team photo taken in front of the Crown Vision board still displaying a congratulatory message to the White Sox.

— Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026

Definition of trudged

Verb

In a historic first, two olive ridley sea turtles crawled out of the sea within the second week of September and laid their eggs in pits of sand in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.

— Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
The technology isn’t perfect, Walsh said; if Gus had crawled beneath a bush to sleep, the camera wouldn’t necessarily find him.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

As a result, the Great Lawn had to be shut down two months ealier for repairs and resodding after tens of thousands of concertgoers stomped it into a muddy mess.

— Lincoln Anderson, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026
Letter writers recalled how Paden saved his father’s life when a cow nearly stomped him to death in a field, after the elder Paden came between the cow and her calf.

— Glenn Rice, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of stomped

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plod

plodded

plodder

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

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Synonyms of plodded

verb

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