FIDDLED Synonyms: 93 Similar and Opposite Words

fiddled

verb

past tense of fiddle

as in fidgeted

to make jerky or restless movements the executive fiddled with a pen as she impatiently waited for the meeting to begin

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in cheated

to rob by the use of trickery or threats conscienceless grifters who had spent their lives fiddling the naive

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 fiddled But what does some scientist know about eating fruit, of all things, when your hamstring feels like it’s being fiddled by Satan? — Dan England, Outside, 5 Feb. 2026 As Rossini stowed her purse in a tiny back office, a manager named Katie Atlas was onboarding a new employee, a young woman who fiddled nervously with her necklace. — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025 Communities across the globe probably independently fiddled their way towards the invention of proto lip balms over and over. — Mark Hay, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fiddled

Verb

One woman ordered some home furniture while two children fidgeted nearby.

— David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2026
Between each dance was an excruciating silence during which network-TV producers monitored and reset their equipment while the men fidgeted onstage like excitable children.

— Rebecca Jennings, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026

Definition of fidgeted

Verb

The rest of us just got the surface, but who could feel cheated?

— Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026
Child safety advocates and some parents have welcomed age restrictions, while privacy groups say the rules can be cheated and that forcing users to supply identification raises privacy concerns.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of cheated

Verb

Minutes later the finalists will fight to stay on the back of 2,000-pound animals with names like Man Hater and Buck Nasty for eight excruciating seconds, and then dodge the bull's hooves and horns when they're tossed to the ground.

— Christine Lennon, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Aug. 2026
Martina tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and two walks in the international finale.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of tossed

Verb

But for guests seeking deeper immersion in nature, the wildflower garden with more than 200 plant species looks like it was plucked straight from a fairy tale.

— Brian Cicioni, Travel + Leisure, 1 Sep. 2026
The Muir swivel chair in oxblood velvet feels plucked out of a Hollywood Regency–style boutique hotel lobby.

— Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of plucked

Verb

Many a club’s board would have twitched in the face of the bare data, but the chain of command above Arteta stayed the course, and the FOMO is so high that tickets for Palace away this weekend are going for £45,000 ($60,000) on resale sites.

— Phil Hay, New York Times, 21 May 2026
My jaw twitched uncontrollably.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 May 2026

Definition of twitched

Verb

America’s aging farmers have been holding on to machinery for longer than usual as low crop prices and rising costs squeezed their finances.

— Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Officials said the bears appeared to have squeezed through a 1-foot-wide opening in the concrete structure (likely seeking water during hot, humid weather) and then couldn’t get back out.

— Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of squeezed

Verb

Belloumi’s 64th-minute strike with his left foot broke the deadlock in the second game of the two-leg affair and Gelhardt made sure with a low shot that squirmed past the Millwall goalkeeper.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 May 2026
His Japanese guest, usually a paragon of diplomatic cool, visibly squirmed.

— Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 14 Apr. 2026

Definition of squirmed

Verb

Officers hustled the residents, including the children, out of the home, while Walsh and the second officer found the suspect hiding in a bathroom.

— Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 26 Aug. 2026
Two of the men quickly hopped up and hustled down the sidewalk, while the third sat for a second before replacing the manhole cover, and walked away, the video shows.

— John Annese, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026