slithering

verb

present participle of slither
as in creeping
to move slowly with the body close to the ground a snake slithering through the garden

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 slithering Officials issued the alert Monday after a man shared with police an image appearing to show the dangerous reptile slithering from the thin branch of a tree onto the roof of a backyard shed. — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026 Perhaps the most striking styles in the lineup stood on curvaceous, sculptural heels resembling slithering snakes. — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 30 Sep. 2026 There was unexpected wildlife – a screeching macaque and a viper slithering across a path. — Everett Potter, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 This is believed to be the first slithering creature seen at a football practice since Drew Rosenhaus. — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026 Here are seven solutions to keep these animals slithering past your yard. — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 6 July 2026 There are anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) currently slithering through the Florida Everglades. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 July 2026 North Carolina is crawling, or perhaps slithering, with copperheads. — Eva Flowe, Charlotte Observer, 22 June 2026 On land, movements range from crawling and slithering (worms, mollusks, arthropods, snakes) to walking and running. — Literary Hub, 22 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slithering
  1. creeping
  2. crawling
  3. snaking
  4. sliding
Verb
  • Carr takes a beat to scan the field, no doubt noticing three corners in press and an extra safety creeping toward the line.
    — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • But there was something else that was creeping into his head.
    — Andy Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of creeping
Verb
  • Researchers have developed a paper-thin foot membrane that lets crawling microrobots harvest electricity directly from the ground beneath them, ditching heavy onboard batteries by turning metal and silicon surfaces into an active power source.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Traffic cameras showed that northbound traffic was bumper-to-bumper and crawling along I-35 before being detoured from the highway.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of crawling
Verb
  • Fighting along the roughly 780-mile front line snaking through northern, eastern and southern Ukraine has been virtually deadlocked in recent months.
    — Susie Blann, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line snaking through northern, eastern and southern Ukraine has been virtually deadlocked in recent months.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of snaking
Verb
  • The rooms Every single one of the 75 rooms is ocean-facing, with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors framing the view, and leading to private terraces perched above the mangroves.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2026
  • These twin trends—an aging Leninist system sliding toward one-man rule and mounting political inertia in the face of anything that might trigger social unrest—have eroded China’s governance capacity.
    — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of sliding

Browse Nearby Words

slithered
slithering
slithers
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All