squirm

Verb

1. (intransitive) To twist one's body with snakelike motions.
2. (intransitive) To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
3. To evade a question, an interviewer etc.

Noun

A twisting, snakelike movement of the body.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/skwɜːm/

Etymology

Cognate with Scots: squimmer

Cognate with Norwegian: kverva

Cognate with Old Norse: hverfa

In summary

First recorded 1690's, originally used of eels; cognate with Scots squimmer (“to wriggle, squirm”). Of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal quirm, whirm (“to disappear quickly, vanish suddenly and mysteriously”), Norwegian kverva (“to turn around, take away, remove, shrink”), from Old Norse hverfa (“to turn, vanish”). Alternatively, perhaps imitative or related to worm (in the sense of writhing movement) or swarm.

Synonyms

wriggle

writhe

wiggle

twist

struggle

worm

🪱

wrestle

fidget

peristalsis

twitch

twist and turn

slither

crawl

twiddle

gyrate

huddle

jiggle

joggle

move

roll around

shake

🫨

shimmy

show off

snake

🐍

spiral

stew

🍲

toss

turn

twine

wag

waggle

wind

wobble

worry

wreathe

thread one’s way

crawl like a worm

move about restlessly

move restlessly

feel uncomfortalbe

nestle up

circumvolute

buzz about

twist about

creeping motion

buzz around

creeping motion squirm

agitated

motion squirm

agonize

Translations

se tortiller

sich winden

frétiller

retorcerse

kıvranış

kıvranmak

wriemelen

sich krümmen

avoir des convulsions

contorcer-se

retorcer

trenar

تملص

retorçar

tòrcer