wag

Meaning

Verb

1. To swing from side to side, as an animal's tail, or someone's head, to express disagreement or disbelief.
2. (slang) To play truant from school.
3. (obsolete) To go; to proceed; to move; to progress.
4. To move continually, especially in gossip; said of the tongue.
5. (obsolete) To leave; to depart.

Noun

1. An oscillating movement.
2. A witty person.

Synonyms

wave

👋

shake

waggle

swing

jester

joker

wiggle

flap

wigwag

sway

brandish

flourish

wit

agitate

beat

jiggle

wobble

wield

wriggle

whirl

wave about

clown

rock

🪨

fling

quiver

move

card

arouse

buffoon

flutter

incite

judder

play truant

quake

shimmy

stir up

stroke

joggle

gesticulate

to play wag

kidder

mischief

motivate

funster

movement

oscillate

playfulness

play hooky

funny-man

prankster

propel

skip class

fluctuate

flapping

rotate

fidget

shake up

shaver

funny person

skip

slither

squirm

stagger

stir

switchtail

strike

farceur

sweep

droll

twist

twitch

unsteady

urchin

vibrate

wabble

waddle

wagging

drive

comedian

chatter

bunk

budge

bob

bestir

beckon

beating

antic

writhe

zany

zigzag

play hookey

practical joker

wag tail

be nonplussed

brown eyes

humorist

gagger

jar

🫙

jest

harlequin

gossip

jocular

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wæɡ/

Etymology

From Middle English waggen, probably from Old English wagian (“to wag, wave, shake”) with reinforcement from Old Norse vaga (“to wag, waddle”); both from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to wag”). Related to English way.
The verb may be regarded as an iterative or emphatic form of waw (verb), which is often nearly synonymous; it was used, e.g., of a loose tooth. Parallel formations from the same root are the Old Norse vagga feminine, cradle (Swedish vagga, Danish vugge), Swedish vagga (“to rock a cradle”), Dutch wagen (“to move”), early modern German waggen (dialectal German wacken) to waver, totter. Compare waggle, verb