Squirm

Squirm

Verb · /skwɜːm/ · to twist and turn the body due to discomfort, embarrassment, or unease

Definition

To squirm is to wriggle or twist the body in small, restless movements, usually because you are uncomfortable, embarrassed, or trying to escape something. A child squirms on a hard chair. An interviewee squirms under a difficult question. The word captures both the physical act of restless movement and the emotional experience of acute social discomfort — that internal writhing sensation when you wish you were anywhere but here.

Origin

Squirm appeared in English in the late seventeenth century, possibly derived from rhyming association with worm and the action of a worm's movement. It may also be influenced by Low German and Dutch words for twisting or turning. By the eighteenth century it was firmly established both as a physical verb — the fish squirmed in his hand — and as a figurative one for social embarrassment.