different between wriggle vs squirmy

English

Etymology

From wrig +? -le (frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch wriggelen (“to wriggle, squirm”), Low German wriggeln (“to wriggle”). Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn, wend, hie, go move”), from Proto-Germanic *wrig?n? (“to wriggle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?????l/
• Rhymes: -???l

Verb

wriggle (third-person singular simple present wriggles, present participle wriggling, simple past and past participle wriggled)

1. (intransitive) To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.

   Synonym: wiggle

   Teachers often lose their patience when children wriggle in their seats.

   • 1724, Jonathan Swift, Drapier's Letters, 5

     Both he and successors would often wriggle in their seats, as long as the cushion lasted.
2. (transitive) To cause something to wriggle.

   Synonym: wiggle

   He was sitting on the lawn, wriggling his toes in the grass.

3. (intransitive) To use crooked or devious means.

Derived terms

• wriggler
• wriggly

Translations

Noun

wriggle (plural wriggles)

1. A wriggling movement.

Translations

Anagrams

• wiggler

English

Etymology

squirm +? -y

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?skw?mi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?skw??mi/

Adjective

squirmy (comparative squirmier or more squirmy, superlative squirmiest or most squirmy)

1. That squirms, writhes or wriggles

Derived terms

• squirminess