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wiggle

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To move with irregular, back and forward or side to side motions.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

wiguhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈwɪɡəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitiveintransitive

    To move with irregular, back and forward or side to side motions; to shake or jiggle.

  2. Move to and fro

noun

  1. A rapid movement in alternating opposite directions, not necessarily regular.

  2. figurative

    An alternating state or characteristic.

  3. in the plural

    See wiggles.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To move with irregular, back and forward or side to side motions; to shake or jiggle.

Used this way, wiggle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

wiggle roomwiggle eyeswiggle through

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • wiggle nailnounCompound term

    A small strip of corrugated steel with sharp points on one side.

  • wiggle roomnounCompound term

    Flexibility of interpretation or of options.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: rapid movement in alternating opposite directions

squirmwrigglejiggleRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.