diddled

verb

past tense of diddle
1
as in dragged
to move or act slowly even though the hurricane was fast approaching, federal and local politicians wasted precious time diddling

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cheated
to rob by the use of trickery or threats an unscrupulous Broadway producer diddles little old ladies by persuading them to invest in a surefire flop

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for diddled
  1. dragged
  2. cheated
  3. delayed
  4. hustled
  5. lingered
  6. squeezed
  7. poked
  8. plucked
Verb
  • There’s the Caesar salad, famously invented right here in Tijuana at Caesar’s Restaurante (now operated by the Plasencia family)—and still prepared tableside, whole leaves of romaine dragged through the decadent dressing to order.
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Growth in Asia was spurred by core markets like China, up 40% year-on-year and standing in contrast to the rest of the industry, where the market dragged on quarterly results.
    — Ella Graveney, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • Bo told Lu that if the audit produced evidence that he had been cheated, Wang should go to prison.
    — Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In one case, several systems worked on a problem in parallel, one cheated outright, and the system assigned to summarize their work did not flag it.
    — Craig S. Smith, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheated
Verb
  • According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, 45% of flights in and out of Chicago O'Hare International Airport were delayed on Tuesday, and 10% were canceled.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Each step introduces friction — points where patients may be delayed, confused, or lost in the process entirely.
    — Jeffrey Millstein, STAT, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • The over-all technical director, Oscar Lopez, whose day job entails managing events at Resorts World, hustled crews carefully among setups and sites.
    — Paige Williams, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • During a break Saturday, Freeling hustled home and caught two episodes before returning to the hotel where the rookies and younger players stay during camp ahead of curfew.
    — Joseph Person, New York Times, 27 July 2026
Definition of hustled
Verb
  • Still, as the audience streamed out of the concert courtyard, earlier words from Finom lingered.
    — Katherine Turman, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Others from albums like 2024’s All Life Long sustained a spell that lingered.
    — Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • But attorneys and housing advocates who work with struggling homeowners say household budgets are being squeezed from several directions.
    — Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Io is repeatedly squeezed and stretched by Jupiter and the gravitational pulls of neighboring moons Europa and Ganymede.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezed
Verb
  • Offering a clever twist, the warm cake is poked with the handle of a wooden spoon, creating space for a vanilla-pineapple pudding to sink deep into the crumb.
    — Erin Merhar, Southern Living, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Let sit at room temperature until buns are puffed and expanded to edges of muffin cups (dough will spring back when poked but hold a slight indentation), 25–35 minutes.
    — Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of poked
Verb
  • Doubs plucked the ball over Gonzalez, who had successfully backed him near the boundary but couldn’t box out the 6-foot-2 receiver entirely.
    — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The bass player plucked each of his instrument’s four strings, one at a time, while turning the corresponding tuning pegs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of plucked
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.

Browse Nearby Words

diddle
diddled
diddled (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Diddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/diddled. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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