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Writhe wound its way to us from the Old English verb wrīthan, meaning “to twist,” and that ancestral meaning lives on in the word’s current uses, most of which have to do with twists of one kind or another. Among the oldest of these uses is the meaning “to twist into coils or folds,” but in modern use writhing is more often about the physical contortions of one suffering from debilitating pain or attempting to remove oneself from a tight grasp (as, say, a snake from a hawk’s talons). The word is also not infrequently applied to the twisting bodies of dancers. The closest relation of writhe in modern English lacks any of the painful connotations often present in writhe: wreath comes from Old English writha, which shares an ancestor with wrīthan.
Synonyms
Examples of writhe in a Sentence
Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2024
The suspect, who remains on the loose, shoved the woman Sunday morning and stole $300 from her purse, her cellphone and her car while the woman writhed in agony on the ground, security video shows.
—Chris Eberhart, Fox News, 9 Apr. 2024
Madonna does something similar, dancing, lip-syncing, and writhing around an apartment in a major city–though where exactly, and whether that’s her home or someone else’s–isn’t clear.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
Flanked by a group of female backup dancers, Doja writhed and waded through a puddle of mud, making out and rolling about with the ladies in one lusty mass.
—Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
Protests of the verdict that began in downtown Los Angeles after it was handed down on April 29, 1992, quickly turned violent; for the next six days, the city writhed in pain and burned for miles.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Media witnesses to Thursday's execution said Smith was conscious for several minutes into the execution and then appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney for two minutes.
—Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 26 Jan. 2024
The characters of Mary & George are unapologetically lusty, and so is the show itself: Hardly an hour goes by without at least a few shots of backs or buttocks writhing against sumptuous backdrops in various configurations.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024
As smoke rises and the flames consume them, the two men writhe and scream in agony – their final moments of unimaginable pain and horror captured on video.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'writhe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near writhe
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“Writhe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/writhe. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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