1
as in flapped
to move or cause to move with a striking motion
started to flail his arms wildly when he spied a bat in the house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in whipped
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
gruesome evidence that the prisoner had been flailed
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 flailed
Williams then flailed his arms behind him and slapped Doncic in the throat.
—
Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2026
His left leg flailed a bit in the air.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026
In a video that went viral on social media, the girl appeared to grip the chairlift in a desperate struggle as her feet flailed in the air, still strapped to her snowboard.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
By then, Achiuwa had already beaten Tyler Kolek in a foot race to the ball, and Brown flailed his arms in frustration while screaming for his All-Star to get off the floor.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026
Kickboxing robots flailed wildly before falling over, and some sprinters crashed into rivals.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2025
On Sunday, Merrill flailed at two sliders in the dirt from Tyler Glasnow before looking at a third down the middle for strike three to strand a runner in the first inning.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Aug. 2025
Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2026
His left leg flailed a bit in the air.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026
In a video that went viral on social media, the girl appeared to grip the chairlift in a desperate struggle as her feet flailed in the air, still strapped to her snowboard.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 4 Feb. 2026
By then, Achiuwa had already beaten Tyler Kolek in a foot race to the ball, and Brown flailed his arms in frustration while screaming for his All-Star to get off the floor.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026
Kickboxing robots flailed wildly before falling over, and some sprinters crashed into rivals.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2025
On Sunday, Merrill flailed at two sliders in the dirt from Tyler Glasnow before looking at a third down the middle for strike three to strand a runner in the first inning.
—Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flailed
Verb
-
The jacket hugged every contour of your torso and never flapped in the wind.—
The Editors,
Outside,
18 Mar. 2026
-
As is customary for the deaths of first responders, a gigantic American flag flapped from a crane outside the morgue.—
Sam Charles,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
For 10 minutes, Boyd took in the scene as the flags whipped above the center-field scoreboard, Cubs infielders took grounders and stadium workers finished final preparations before 39,712 fans streamed into the ballpark.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
-
This pizza has soppressata, whipped ricotta and drizzles of hot honey.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Patrick Kane took a shot from the point that fluttered through traffic and bounced off Compher, who was parked at the goalpost.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
-
And there, for the fifth time, was Azzi Fudd as the colorful scraps of paper, shot from big cannons, fluttered down all around her.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Meta also slashed headcount across its Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales and Reality Labs divisions last week, CNBC reported.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Not only are their oil shipments bottled up in the Persian Gulf, output has been slashed as supplies have nowhere to go.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
After Cooke lashed out verbally, Wilson intervened and later comforted Batula in a conversation picked up by their microphones.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Trump has lashed out at a number of G7 members and NATO allies for not responding to his calls for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, although in recent days several of them had indicated a willingness to back appropriate action to restore the key waterway to normal traffic.—
Matthew Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Goodwin, in the 77th minute, flicked in a header off a cross by David Schnegg for his first goal in MLS and capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Goodwin, in the 77th minute, flicked in a header off a cross by David Schnegg for his first goal in MLS and capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Similarly, the Cougars thrashed 15th-seeded Idaho 78-47.—
Tony Catalina,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Rice won the Big Ten tournament’s most outstanding player award after UCLA thrashed Iowa by 51 points in the championship.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Williams then flailed his arms behind him and slapped Doncic in the throat.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Anduril has also signed deals with companies in Japan and South Korea, as well as the government of Taiwan; that last partnership caught the ire of Beijing, which slapped sanctions on both Anduril and Luckey last year.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Flailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flailed. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
