sidle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to move sideways or obliquely.
-
to edge along furtively.
noun
verb
-
to move in a furtive or stealthy manner; edge along
-
to move along sideways
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sidlesimple
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sidlessimple
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have sidledperfect
-
has sidledperfect
-
am sidlingprogressive
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are sidlingprogressive
-
is sidlingprogressive
-
have been sidlingperfect progressive
-
has been sidlingperfect progressive
Past
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sidledsimple
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had sidledperfect
-
was sidlingprogressive
-
were sidlingprogressive
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had been sidlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sidle
First recorded in 1690–1700; back formation from sideling (earlier spelling sidling misconstrued as present participle of a verb ending in -le )
Explanation
To sidle is to walk, but in a way that's casual, quiet, and a little sneaky. If you want to surprise someone, sidle up to them and say, "Boo!" There’s a TV show where a character’s coworker has a habit of walking so softly that he constantly startles her — she never notices him coming. So of course she buys wrestling shoes and tries to sidle back! Sidling is a type of walking that is super quiet. If you want to leave a party without people noticing, sidle out the door. Sidling is a good way to slip away.
Vocabulary lists containing sidle
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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"To Build a Fire," Vocabulary from the short story
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Grade 12, List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Do they sort of sidle up to you in the elevator and say, “Good job”? Or do they ignore you in the cafeteria and hope that this passes?
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
They’re more like trusty gags that sidle in wearing Groucho Marx glasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2025
She will also sidle up to the fence now and then to take in the latest drama going on with the rest of the colony, which now numbers 42.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2023
You all need to sidle up to a person and sit next to them so that the next couple can sit together.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2022
Briony had not even been cast as Arabella’s mother, and now was surely the time to sidle from the room and tumble into facedown darkness on the bed.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
That’s when one satellite sidles up to another and either fixes it or kills it, depending on whose satellite it is and what day of the week it is.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025
He sidles up, sniffs one of the vehicles, then jumps up and plants two giant paws up on the side of the buggy.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2024
The team is sighing with relief when Kendall, of WDC, sidles up to Kowalcyk, quietly telling her the man next to Paul asked whether he could go inside, too.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
Across the room, Roman sidles up to Gerri and tries to snow her, saying that he didn't really fire her.
From Salon ● May 8, 2023
There’s no avoiding it, as much as I try It always sidles up to me and makes me recognize it.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
I sidled up to the bar with happy hour in full swing, feeling a little nauseated from the heat and mileage.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Back outside, a crowd surrounded the sisters, but held back until one woman sidled up to the pair and whispered “Photo?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Kingsley went back inside and sidled up to the piano where Mercury was practising - it was a new song with the working title Freddie's Thing.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025
But Morgan sidled over after practice anyway and we talked for about 20 minutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
The memory of James in the alley sidled into my mind.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Now it has transformed itself into tumbleweed proper, sidling and bouncing wherever the wind chooses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
There are dozens of courtrooms spread across Floors 12 and 14, and observers and petitioners will bustle in and out, sidling past flocks of press and squads of federal officers.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2025
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so you find yourself sidling into a café.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
Now it’s been sidling tragically toward it: It is closed, and probably unlikely to reopen in the same place ever again.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
She patted her again upon the shoulder as she said: “You are the only one worth playing for. Those others? Bah!” and she went shuffling and sidling on down the gallery toward her room.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
