Writhe
verb
To twist or bend your body because of pain or discomfort.
He was writhing in pain after falling off his bicycle.
Often appears as...
- writhing in agony
- writhing in pain
verb
To squirm or move with a lot of effort.
The snake writhed across the ground, trying to escape.
Often appears as...
- writhing snake
- writhing effort
verb
To feel extreme embarrassment or discomfort.
She writhed in embarrassment when he started to sing.
Often appears as...
- writhing in embarrassment
- writhing in discomfort
verb
To twist or bend your body because of pain or discomfort.
He was writhing in pain after falling off his bicycle.
Often appears as...
- writhing in agony
- writhing in pain
verb
To squirm or move with a lot of effort.
The snake writhed across the ground, trying to escape.
Often appears as...
- writhing snake
- writhing effort
verb
To feel extreme embarrassment or discomfort.
She writhed in embarrassment when he started to sing.
Often appears as...
- writhing in embarrassment
- writhing in discomfort
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Torment
Use 'writhe' to describe intense physical pain, as if twisting one's body uncontrollably.
The injured player writhed on the ground, clutching his leg.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
'Writhe' can be used figuratively to describe someone suffering, not always physically visible.
Figuratively, he writhed with the knowledge of his betrayal.
Pro Tip 3/3Powerful Imagery
Describing someone as 'writhing' creates a strong visual image of suffering.
She writhed under the constraints of the tight ropes.
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Torment
Use 'writhe' to describe intense physical pain, as if twisting one's body uncontrollably.
The injured player writhed on the ground, clutching his leg.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
'Writhe' can be used figuratively to describe someone suffering, not always physically visible.
Figuratively, he writhed with the knowledge of his betrayal.
Pro Tip 3/3Powerful Imagery
Describing someone as 'writhing' creates a strong visual image of suffering.
She writhed under the constraints of the tight ropes.
Pro Tip 1/3Physical Torment
Use 'writhe' to describe intense physical pain, as if twisting one's body uncontrollably.
The injured player writhed on the ground, clutching his leg.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Literal
'Writhe' can be used figuratively to describe someone suffering, not always physically visible.
Figuratively, he writhed with the knowledge of his betrayal.
Pro Tip 3/3Powerful Imagery
Describing someone as 'writhing' creates a strong visual image of suffering.
She writhed under the constraints of the tight ropes.
Never forget "Writhe"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
The wild world of...
and in milliseconds, a trapdoor swings open and sucks her in. Trapped half in and half out, she struggles to free herself while the part of her body inside the plant gets digested. Over the next few hours, her writhing sets the trap off repeatedly, each time bringing her deeper into the plant
Video examples
Do schools kill...
get yourself along to a residential conference of senior academics and pop into the discotheque on the final night. And there, you will see it. Grown men and women writhing uncontrollably, off the beat.
Video examples
Ants Devour Slug Alive!...
begin to bring particles of soil and place them on the slug in this way the slime is soaked up like ink on blotting paper gradually the slug disappears under a writhing mass of earth and ants
Video examples
Equinoxes PIPE National...
axes during the equinoxes shadows cast by the railings create the illusion of a writhing serpent body descending the northern steps where it joins the carved serpents head at the base of the
Video examples
How does your body know...
Hunger claws at your grumbling belly. It tugs at your intestines, which begin to writhe, aching to be fed. Being hungry generates a powerful, often unpleasant physical sensation
Video examples
The agony of opioid...
At the beginning of week three, my world got very dark. I basically stopped eating, and I barely slept at all thanks to the jitters that would keep me writhing all night.
Video examples
How Thor got his hammer...
Loki the mischief-maker, was writhing uncomfortably in Thor’s iron grip. The previous night, while the rest of the gods slept, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife
Video examples
The myth of Loki’s...
Three fearsome figures haunted his a massive, writhing shadow; a shambling, rotting corpse; and worst of all, a monstrous beast with a deadly bite.
Video examples
Filming Inside a Cave...
this cave is an amazing cave to film in it's full of life i mean it's writhing with cockroaches it's not everybody's cup of tea
Video examples
Best Of Ants PIPE BBC Earth
ink on blotting paper gradually the slug disappears under a writhing mass of earth and ants
Video examples
The wild world of...
and in milliseconds, a trapdoor swings open and sucks her in. Trapped half in and half out, she struggles to free herself while the part of her body inside the plant gets digested. Over the next few hours, her writhing sets the trap off repeatedly, each time bringing her deeper into the plant
Video examples
Do schools kill...
get yourself along to a residential conference of senior academics and pop into the discotheque on the final night. And there, you will see it. Grown men and women writhing uncontrollably, off the beat.
Video examples
Ants Devour Slug Alive!...
begin to bring particles of soil and place them on the slug in this way the slime is soaked up like ink on blotting paper gradually the slug disappears under a writhing mass of earth and ants
Video examples
Equinoxes PIPE National...
axes during the equinoxes shadows cast by the railings create the illusion of a writhing serpent body descending the northern steps where it joins the carved serpents head at the base of the
Video examples
How does your body know...
Hunger claws at your grumbling belly. It tugs at your intestines, which begin to writhe, aching to be fed. Being hungry generates a powerful, often unpleasant physical sensation
Video examples
The agony of opioid...
At the beginning of week three, my world got very dark. I basically stopped eating, and I barely slept at all thanks to the jitters that would keep me writhing all night.
Video examples
How Thor got his hammer...
Loki the mischief-maker, was writhing uncomfortably in Thor’s iron grip. The previous night, while the rest of the gods slept, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife
Video examples
The myth of Loki’s...
Three fearsome figures haunted his a massive, writhing shadow; a shambling, rotting corpse; and worst of all, a monstrous beast with a deadly bite.
Video examples
Filming Inside a Cave...
this cave is an amazing cave to film in it's full of life i mean it's writhing with cockroaches it's not everybody's cup of tea
Video examples
Best Of Ants PIPE BBC Earth
ink on blotting paper gradually the slug disappears under a writhing mass of earth and ants
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Rick Wilson
American Author
It's become a cliche to stare in mute horror at Donald Trump's endless stream of Twitter vomit, wondering what chthonic god finds pleasure in watching us writhe as Trump brings out the very worst in his followers and new levels of willful ignorance from Republicans determined to see no evil, no matter how in their face that evil is.
Quote examples
W. E. B. Du Bois
American Writer
St. Louis sprawls where mighty rivers meet - as broad as Philadelphia, but three stories high instead of two, with wider streets and dirtier atmosphere, over the dull-brown of wide, calm rivers. The city overflows into the valleys of Illinois and lies there, writhing under its grimy cloud.
Quote examples
Franz Kafka
Novelist
It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.
Quote examples
Michelle Huneven
American Novelist
Writers can take offense when someone asks what's real or autobiographical in our work because, to us, that's not what counts. The bits taken from life are tiny scales on the dragon's tail - what about that whole beautiful writhing, fire-breathing dragon?
Quote examples
Steven Berkoff
English Actor
When I have criticism that I feel is unfair, the rejection does disturb me, but it also strengthens me. I used to get turned down for all sorts of jobs. I used to writhe in pain, but then I would say, 'Good. Good. I will get stronger for this.
Quote examples
Dawn Foster
British Journalist
Hospitals are often grim places: being stuck on a ward is excruciatingly boring, especially when you're too ill to follow the plot of a book, and struggling to sleep through the guttural cries of people writhing in agony in adjacent beds.
Quote examples
James Larkin
Irish Activist
The souls you have got cast upon the screen of publicity appear like the horrid and writhing creatures enlarged from the insect world, and revealed to us by the cinematograph.
Quote examples
Theresa Rebeck
American Playwright
Sometimes I feel that my job on earth is to put Julie White through horrible things, watch her writhe and then recover.
Quote examples
Charlie Pierce
American Journalist
At the time of his death, John Kennedy had a national security establishment that was a writhing ball of snakes.
Quote examples
Anna Held
Polish Entertainer
I want to see people turn and writhe; make them feel things they cannot see and sometimes do not know.
Quote examples
Rick Wilson
American Author
It's become a cliche to stare in mute horror at Donald Trump's endless stream of Twitter vomit, wondering what chthonic god finds pleasure in watching us writhe as Trump brings out the very worst in his followers and new levels of willful ignorance from Republicans determined to see no evil, no matter how in their face that evil is.
Quote examples
W. E. B. Du Bois
American Writer
St. Louis sprawls where mighty rivers meet - as broad as Philadelphia, but three stories high instead of two, with wider streets and dirtier atmosphere, over the dull-brown of wide, calm rivers. The city overflows into the valleys of Illinois and lies there, writhing under its grimy cloud.
Quote examples
Franz Kafka
Novelist
It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.
Quote examples
Michelle Huneven
American Novelist
Writers can take offense when someone asks what's real or autobiographical in our work because, to us, that's not what counts. The bits taken from life are tiny scales on the dragon's tail - what about that whole beautiful writhing, fire-breathing dragon?
Quote examples
Steven Berkoff
English Actor
When I have criticism that I feel is unfair, the rejection does disturb me, but it also strengthens me. I used to get turned down for all sorts of jobs. I used to writhe in pain, but then I would say, 'Good. Good. I will get stronger for this.
Quote examples
Dawn Foster
British Journalist
Hospitals are often grim places: being stuck on a ward is excruciatingly boring, especially when you're too ill to follow the plot of a book, and struggling to sleep through the guttural cries of people writhing in agony in adjacent beds.
Quote examples
James Larkin
Irish Activist
The souls you have got cast upon the screen of publicity appear like the horrid and writhing creatures enlarged from the insect world, and revealed to us by the cinematograph.
Quote examples
Theresa Rebeck
American Playwright
Sometimes I feel that my job on earth is to put Julie White through horrible things, watch her writhe and then recover.
Quote examples
Charlie Pierce
American Journalist
At the time of his death, John Kennedy had a national security establishment that was a writhing ball of snakes.
Quote examples
Anna Held
Polish Entertainer
I want to see people turn and writhe; make them feel things they cannot see and sometimes do not know.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension