SCUFFLING Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

scuffling

verb

present participle of scuffle

as in shuffling

to move heavily or clumsily she scuffled along in shoes that were much too large for her

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in wrestling

to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery the burglar and the homeowner briefly scuffled together in the dark

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 scuffling Right tackle Mike McGlinchey said the quality of Denver's opening slate, which included the unbeaten 49ers and Chiefs along with the Jaguars, Rams and Seahawks, has a lot to do with how much Denver is scuffling on offense. — ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026 The Chargers were scuffling on Sunday even before WR Ladd McConkey was sidelined with a chest injury (after a Justin Herbert pass steered him into a huge collision). — Andy Behrens, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 The addition of Adams and Goodman onto the roster bring some intrigue for a club that has been severely scuffling. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026 The two dogs began scuffling and Molloy allegedly pulled out a gun and fired a shot, killing Luke. — Naveen Dhaliwal, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 The room was thick with the din of 1,400 men packed inside a stone box—their voices, the sound of feet scuffling on the floor, and their hands moving restlessly atop the tables, echoing. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 Protesters were seen pushing through police barricades and scuffling with security personnel as authorities attempted to stop the march. — Priyanka Salve,raksha Murali, CNBC, 23 July 2026 Despite Chisholm’s late heroics, the Yankees’ scuffling offense certainly could have made things easier, as there were a few other opportunities to tack on runs. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026 Tesla made that evolution, while Lucid is scuffling and Fisker never did. — Greg Migliore, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scuffling

Verb

Green tea was served by gang members shuffling around in slippers.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Ivey and his partner persuaded the Crockfords dealer to rotate the high-value cards 180 degrees before shuffling them back into the pack, citing some obscure superstition as justification.

— Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of shuffling

Verb

Benjamin Satterley, known to wrestling fans around the world as Pac, died last month of bronchial asthma, the medical examiner’s office in Cook County, Illinois, confirmed Friday.

— Rudy Chinchilla, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026
Inside the school Giamanco saw a woman wrestling with the boy for control of the shotgun.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of wrestling

Verb

Rather than fighting strict local regulations head-on, companies like Waymo, Zoox, and Aurora are prioritizing states with explicit legislative preemption that prevents individual cities from banning the technology.

— Andrew Hawkins, The Verge, 18 Oct. 2026
The procedure had already been approved, and everyone involved understood that my doctor had spent months fighting to secure authorization.

— Scott Levenson, New York Daily News, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of fighting

Verb

Big banks made changes to overdraft fees and fraud protections following previous testimony, for example, while former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf abruptly resigned in 2016 after stumbling during hearings on the bank’s fake accounts scandal.

— Reuters, NBC news, 13 Oct. 2026
In an era of geotags and influencers, there’s something deeply satisfying about stumbling upon a place that still feels like a secret.

— Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of stumbling

Browse Nearby Words

scuffles

scuffling

scuffs

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Scuffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scuffling. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of scuffling

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes