slither

American  

[slith-er] / ˈslɪð ər /

verb (used without object)

• slithers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slithered,
  past participle,  past
• slithering
  present participle

1. to slide down or along a surface, especially unsteadily, from side to side, or with some friction or noise.

   The box slithered down the chute.

2. to go or walk with a sliding motion.

   The snake slithered across the path.

---

verb (used with object)

• slithers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slithered,
  past participle,  past
• slithering
  present participle

1. to cause to slither or slide.

noun

1. a slithering movement; slide.

slither British  

/ ˈslɪðə /

verb

1. to move or slide or cause to move or slide unsteadily, as on a slippery surface

2. (intr) to travel with a sliding motion

---

noun

1. a slithering motion

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• slithery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• slithering
  present
• slithered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slither
  simple
• slithers
  simple
• have slithered
  perfect
• has slithered
  perfect
• am slithering
  progressive
• are slithering
  progressive
• is slithering
  progressive
• have been slithering
  perfect progressive
• has been slithering
  perfect progressive

Past

• slithered
  simple
• had slithered
  perfect
• was slithering
  progressive
• were slithering
  progressive
• had been slithering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slither
  simple
• will have slithered
  perfect
• will be slithering
  progressive
• will have been slithering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of slither

1150–1200; Middle English slitheren, variant of sliddren, Old English slid ( e ) rian, frequentative of slīdan to slide; see -er ⁶

Explanation

Slither means to move in a sideways motion, usually silently. Snakes, of all kinds, slither, from the original snake in the Garden of Eden, to that untrustworthy-looking individual who approaches you in the street. Slither comes from the Old English term slidrian, meaning "to slide on a loose or gravely surface." While slide is in some ways similar to slither, it lacks its truly nasty moral and physical associations. It's a safe bet that slitherers do not have your best interests at heart.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slither slithers slithered slithering

Families and astronomers gathered at a site known locally as "top of the world" on Gaisby Lane, Shipley, to try to see a slither of the new crescent moon.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

Still, he held on to a slither of hope.

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

Mystified, he wanders the dank halls of their rented palazzo and the fetid alleyways of the “pestilential city” where canal waters slither past like “a fat, grey-green worm.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Now we get the “Slow-Lows,” bottom-feeders who slither on the ground and survive off leftovers from other creatures: earthworms or other easy-to-catch prey.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025

Vividly they came before him; he could have reached up and touched them, could feel the weight and slow slide with which The Mammoth Book for Boys would come out and slither down.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

"You take multiple pictures, sometimes over 100 and it takes tiny little slithers of focus, and then you put all those into software, and that creates your final image."

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

Especially this kind of bullying Rodgers is engaging in, where he slithers away from direct conflict with Kimmel — which he'd fail at — and instead petulantly tries to inflict harm from afar.

From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2024

She imagines standing alone in a nondescript finished office basement as a giant snake slithers by.

From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2024

You stand stock-still until it quiets down and slithers on its way.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2023

The web locks us into place, staring at each other as the moon slithers across the sky and the stars fall asleep.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Throughout the World Cup, the team slithered away from trouble again and again … until the final game.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

But she clipped the wall of the halfpipe halfway down the course and slithered to the base, losing a ski.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

Then, almost out of nowhere, replacement scrum-half George Horne slithered across the grass and into the corner, although Russell could not add the extras.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

They spontaneously linked together to form chains that slithered through some obstacles and surrounded other objects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

I wrapped my fingers around the rough, bruising snake of a rope that slithered through them, and went up.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

I managed to hold it like that, balanced on the throttle, slithering and sidestepping, until I had to join the main straight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Set against a slithering, seductive Chicago house beat, it’s really more of a command, one that the Queen of Pop immediately follows with another decree: “Come on, meet me on the dance floor.”

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

In Guillermo Cienfuegos’ enlivening, if at times unsteady, production at A Noise Within, the role is played by Ann Noble, who forgoes the outdated hunchback but adopts a seething, slithering, perversely seductive aura of menace.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026

Len Ramirez of Auburn, Calif., gave readers a slithering surprise in his 2015 My Ride column, which was photographed by Max Whittaker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

“She must have glimpsed something slithering in the weeds,” Mother would say when she told the story, “because she chucked Grandpa clean off.”

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Related Words

• crawl
• glide
• skid
• slink
• sneak
• wriggle