wormed

verb

Definition of wormednext
past tense of worm
1
as in encroached
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits neighborhoods worming into lands reserved for wildlife

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in infiltrated
to introduce in a gradual, secret, or clever way over a period of several years, the undercover agent was able to worm his way into the drug kingpin's confidence

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in crept
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the cat silently wormed along the ground as it snuck up on the bird

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wormed
  1. infiltrated
  2. crept
  3. sneaked
  4. inserted
  5. slipped
Verb
  • These attackers infiltrated the platform’s databases, accessing usernames, email addresses and private chat logs.
    Lars Daniel, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Israel accuses the agency of allowing itself to be infiltrated by Hamas — allegations denied by the United Nations.
    Wafaa Shurafa and Fatma Khaled, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2024
Definition of infiltrated
Verb
  • There, the smell of smoke had crept inside.
    Corina Knoll, New York Times, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Jordan Neely’s father lifted his head and sat upright in his seat; an almost-smile crept across his face.
    Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
Definition of crept
Verb
  • Kate Winslet snuck into the best drama actress category as the sole nominee from Roadside’s Lee.
    Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Dec. 2024
  • The Longhorns will take on Clemson, the ACC champion and only three-loss team in the field that snuck into the playoff thanks to a massive upset by Syracuse over Miami on November 30 and a clutch 56-yard field goal as time expired to top SMU in the conference championship game.
    Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 8 Dec. 2024
Definition of sneaked
Verb
  • Mangione's profile on X shows a background image of an X-ray with what appears to be screws and plates inserted in a lower back.
    Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2024
  • One of the photos on his X account is an X-ray of a spine with four large screws inserted.
    Brittney Melton, NPR, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of inserted
Verb
  • The e-commerce stock slipped 3% following a downgrade to underperform from hold at Jefferies.
    Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The National Team appeared to buy their favorite ETFs, as the Mainland market slipped into the mid-day lunch break.
    Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
Definition of slipped
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near wormed

worm

wormed

wormhole

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on wormed

Nglish: Translation of wormed for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of wormed for Arabic Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

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

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...