worms
noun · verb
Form of worm , plural of worm.
Simple meaning
A contemptible or devious being.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wurmzIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɝmz
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
plural of worm
A contemptible or devious being.
plural of worm
More loosely, any of various tubular invertebrates resembling annelids but not closely related to them, such as velvet worms, acorn worms, flatworms, or roundworms.
plural of worm
A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm.
plural of worm
A self-replicating program that propagates through a network, differing from a virus in usually lacking any destructive effects.
verb
third-person singular of worm
To move with one's body dragging the ground.
third-person singular of wormtransitivefigurativelyin "worm out of"
To drag out of, to get information that someone is reluctant or unwilling to give (through artful or devious means or by pleading or asking repeatedly).
third-person singular of worm
To work one's way by artful or devious means.
third-person singular of worm
To work (one's way or oneself) (into) gradually or slowly; to insinuate.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A contemptible or devious being.
Used this way, worms 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
- Matter-of-fact
- 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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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.