SCUFFLING Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

scuffling

verb

present participle of scuffle

as in shuffling

to move heavily or clumsily she scuffled along in shoes that were much too large for her

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in wrestling

to seize and attempt to unbalance one another for the purpose of achieving physical mastery the burglar and the homeowner briefly scuffled together in the dark

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 scuffling But after scuffling for most of the road trip, Los Angeles broke out Sunday for a 6-1 win in the rubber match of a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers. — Katie Woo, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026 The addition of Adams and Goodman onto the roster bring some intrigue for a club that has been severely scuffling. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026 The two dogs began scuffling and Molloy allegedly pulled out a gun and fired a shot, killing Luke. — Naveen Dhaliwal, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026 The room was thick with the din of 1,400 men packed inside a stone box—their voices, the sound of feet scuffling on the floor, and their hands moving restlessly atop the tables, echoing. — Literary Hub, 27 July 2026 Protesters were seen pushing through police barricades and scuffling with security personnel as authorities attempted to stop the march. — Priyanka Salve,raksha Murali, CNBC, 23 July 2026 Despite Chisholm’s late heroics, the Yankees’ scuffling offense certainly could have made things easier, as there were a few other opportunities to tack on runs. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 20 July 2026 Tesla made that evolution, while Lucid is scuffling and Fisker never did. — Greg Migliore, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026 Videos showed youths running through the event and scuffling with police before officers shooed attendees away. — Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 13 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scuffling

Verb

Summary The Chicago Cubs are currently shuffling their infield due to Dansby Swanson's oblique injury, moving Nico Hoerner to shortstop and Pedro Ramírez to second base.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Keeping your eye on Bredeson is as hard as tracking a ball beneath shuffling cups.

— Alec Lewis, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of shuffling

Verb

Newly restored and directed by Greaves’ son David, the film captures the group’s reminiscing, arguing, and wrestling with how culture survives across generations.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026
But who needs to worry about whether your own front door is locked when the preferred strategy is to go around kicking in everyone else’s doors, wrestling with them on their own front lawns, then declaring victory over them 152 times (and counting)?

— Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of wrestling

Verb

As a result, the Fed’s attention is now fixed on fighting inflation, instead of the other part of its dual mandate, namely supporting the labor market.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026
For France, long accustomed to wildfires along arid stretches of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, the devastation in Le Porge has yielded rare consensus that its fire safety system is not up to fighting mega-fires brought on by climate change.

— Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of fighting

Verb

The teddy bears, the stumbling answers, the whole morning in the Cotillion was a mess.

— Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 25 Aug. 2026
Calhoun, who moved to Kansas City from Ames, Iowa, in 2016, started photography during the pandemic after stumbling across a photography video on YouTube.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of stumbling

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scuffles

scuffling

scuffs

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“Scuffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scuffling. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of scuffling

verb

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