wormed

verb

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

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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

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 wormed Like parasites, those jukebox musicals wormed their way into Broadway and slowly killed the medium. — Jesse Eisenberg, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 OpenAI’s ChatGPT has wormed its way into more and more parts of consumers’ lives, from work to their children’s education, and even mental health and romantic relationships. — Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 16 May 2026 The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum initially believed that the bug, which eluded detection and caused countless medical issues, wormed its way into her system while filming Bravo's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco in early 2023. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026 We as a community contain (often brain-wormed) multitudes, as evidenced by this year’s plethora gay Halloween costumes. — Abby Monteil, Them., 31 Oct. 2025 After a scramble from Baltimore’s corner kick, Kerr’s header at the back post wormed through a thicket of defenders, and Cuthbert had the final touch. — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025 This story has wormed its way into all levels of British cultural output. — Will Collins, The Washington Examiner, 19 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wormed
  1. encroached
  2. infiltrated
  3. crept
  4. inserted
  5. crawled
  6. slipped
  7. snaked
  8. sneaked
Verb
  • In what his dad (Ed Harris) calls the decline of humanity, the club is being encroached on by pickleballers clamoring for more courts.
    — Christine Ledbetter, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • But the somatosensory cortex, the touch cortex, has like encroached upon it.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of encroached
Verb
  • The near-tangible odor has infiltrated every corner of Alicia Naranjo’s home, which is six houses down from the warehouse.
    — Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Still, bits and pieces of the avant-garde dream infiltrated the mainstream.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 29 July 2026
Definition of infiltrated
Verb
  • With a practice script in hand, Shanahan has crept closer to some offensive drills.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • As the population grew, and construction and pollution crept closer to water sources, many springs have since dried up or receded to thin trickles.
    — Umar Farooq, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of crept
Verb
  • As a result, the Royals inserted Luke Maile behind the plate to finish the night.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Jabbour said an endovascular cerebrospinal fluid shunt, or E-shunt, is threaded into the brain with a catheter that's inserted through the groin.
    — Stephanie Stahl, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of inserted
Verb
  • Primus crawled from the same California soup that gave birth to a host of funk-metal acts in the 1980s, following Fishbone, Faith No More, and, most infamously, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
    — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Mysterio went for the Three Amigos, but Danhausen blocked the last attempt and crawled to the corner.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • All of the missiles slipped past Ukrainian defenses, killing least 17 people and wounding dozens more.
    — Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Just over a year after its acquisition, Hailey Bieber's brand contributed $160 million in quarterly sales of a total $479 million—as sales of elf's namesake brand slipped.
    — Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of slipped
Verb
  • At the Meijer gas station in Highland, several lines snaked through the parking lot and onto the main road on Wednesday.
    — Sara Machi, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Here, too, there were echoes of Keegan’s blissful early days, when queues snaked outside the stadium hours before kick-off and every victory felt like alchemy.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 30 July 2026
Definition of snaked
Verb
  • Federal officials are investigating a security breach over the weekend at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a man snuck into a JetBlue aircraft during maintenance, according to the Broward County Aviation Department.
    — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Most recently, Hadid seemingly snuck a photo of Cooper in a July Instagram carousel.
    — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of sneaked

Browse Nearby Words

worm
wormed
wormhole
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Cite this Entry

“Wormed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wormed. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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