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wiggle room

American

noun

room to maneuver; latitude.

wiggle room British

noun

informal scope for freedom of action or thought

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of wiggle room

First recorded in 1985–90

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:

wiggle room

Households with student loans have less wiggle room than they did, ever since payments resumed in late 2023.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Others believe energy and trade volatility are here to stay, leaving zero wiggle room to absorb the hit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

But other schools have looked for wiggle room, and the new IRS rule does have some exceptions.

From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026

The problem is parents don’t have a lot of wiggle room on the matter, said Julie Margetta Morgan, the president of the Century Foundation.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

I know my mom; she’s got no wiggle room.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023