writhe means A contortion. It carries an Arena rating of 1805, earned across 31 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, writhe ranks #401 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #909 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #916 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,133 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
writhe is pronounced /ɹaɪð/.
Why “writhe” is a great word
WRITHE — [Verb] To twist or contort the body, especially as a reaction to pain or discomfort. From Middle English writhen, from Old English wrīþan ("to twist, bend"), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan, from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną ("to weave, twist, turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- ("to twist, writhe"). Unlike "squirm," which implies a restless, fidgeting unease, or "wriggle," which suggests a quick, sinuous effort to advance or escape, to writhe is to be seized by a deeper, involuntary torsion. It is the back arching off the bed in fever, the serpent knotting itself upon a hot stone, the slow, silent torque of a root cracking pavement—a physical grammar for suffering that the body speaks before the mind can form a cry.
Etymology
From Middle English writhen, from Old English wrīþan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan, from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to weave, twist, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist, writhe”). Cognate with Middle Dutch writen (“to turn, twist”), dialectal German reiden (“to turn, twist, lace”), Danish vride (“to twist”), Swedish vrida (“to turn, twist, wind”), French rider (“to wrinkle, furrow, ruffle”, (< Germanic)). Compare also Lithuanian riēsti (“to unbend, wind, roll”).
noun
- A contortion.
- The number of negative crossings subtracted from the number of positive crossings in a knot
verb
- To twist, wring (something).
- To contort (a part of the body).e.g.“Cicero (as I remember) had gotten a custome to wryth his nose, which signifieth a naturall scoffer.” — 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- To twist bodily; to contort one's self; to be distorted.
- To extort.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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