1
as in shuffled
to move heavily or clumsily
she scuffled along in shoes that were much too large for her
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in wrestled
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
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Recent Examples of scuffled
Opposition lawmakers scuffled with police inside Albania’s parliament on Thursday after weeks of escalating tensions over corruption allegations against Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku and other senior officials, Reuters reported.
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Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 18 Dec. 2025
The 8-12 Bucks have scuffled this season, but two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to their lineup on Friday after sitting out four games with a groin injury.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
Prosecutors say Mendez and Ortiz scuffled with one of the suspects, which led to the shooting.
—Nate Sylves, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2025
The Dodgers' offense has scuffled in the last couple of games, putting more pressure on the pitching staff.
—Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
The offense has scuffled, but the defense has been fantastic.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2025
In Montpellier, in the southwest, police scuffled with protesters who had set up a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout.
—Stephane Mahe, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
The Red Sox have scuffled of late, losing seven of their last 10 games.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
The hottest day of training camp was July 29, which fans will remember as the day Chiefs rookies Josh Simmons and Ashton Gillotte scuffled.
—Emily Curiel, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scuffled
Verb
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Empty boxes were stacked along a side wall in the locker room as players shuffled in and out to pack up a season’s worth of shirts and jerseys and cleats and memorabilia.—
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First, the sophomore shuffled back into coverage after showing A-gap pressure to intercept a Bryce Underwood pass over the middle of the field, ending a key fourth-quarter drive.—
Verb
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His brothers, Marcel and Anthony, wrestled at both Reavis and Oak Lawn.—
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The Frenchman wrestled an awful Alpine to 11 Q3 appearances in 2025 and brought in 100 percent of his team’s points.—
Verb
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Jenkins brutally stomped and punched Coto, who was severely injured and put on life support.—
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The disarmingly handsome comic adopted the delivery of a smarmy newsman and deadpanned a joke about the hatching of a baby sandpiper, a triumph for the zoo where it was born, until the bird was stomped to death by a baby hippo born a day earlier.—
Verb
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Firefighters fought the fire both inside and outside the house, and additional firefighters went inside to search for people.—
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And neither do the AI-skeptics who fought the hardest for it.—
Verb
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Naumov and Torgashev moved onto the podium after several other contenders stumbled Saturday.—
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On New Year’s Eve, 1962, Weir stumbled upon Dana Morgan’s Music Store in Palo Alto, where Jerry Garcia taught guitar.—
Cite this Entry
“Scuffled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scuffled. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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