1
as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort
plodded night and day to get the assignment done
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to stumble
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
oxen plodding through deep mud
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
4
as in to shuffle
to move heavily or clumsily
wayfarers plodding across the sandy wastes
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of plod
Throughout the month of May, Beijing and Washington made plodding progress toward a trade deal, both agreeing to lower and suspend duties on each other for a period of 90 days on May 12.
—
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 16 June 2025
Everyone plodded along, trying desperately to avoid rough that hasn’t been cut and greens that never seem to lose their speed.
—Doug Ferguson, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2025
Her language moves the way the turtle does, with a deliberate, clumsy gait, carrying bulky rhymes and blocks of alliteration on plodding feet.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 13 June 2025
To the credit of Brooks and company, his results are less plodding than many such Z-grade fantasies were.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for plod
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 16 June 2025
Everyone plodded along, trying desperately to avoid rough that hasn’t been cut and greens that never seem to lose their speed.
—Doug Ferguson, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2025
Her language moves the way the turtle does, with a deliberate, clumsy gait, carrying bulky rhymes and blocks of alliteration on plodding feet.
—A.o. Scott, New York Times, 13 June 2025
To the credit of Brooks and company, his results are less plodding than many such Z-grade fantasies were.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for plod
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plod
Verb
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But almost six months into his second mandate, his administration has struggled to keep the cost of the staple down.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 July 2025
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Today, many humanoid robots struggle to handle multiple tasks simultaneously—and to reason or understand context in the ways humans can.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
10 July 2025
Verb
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Hegseth, a former Fox TV host who has stumbled through several controversies during his six months in office, sat silently next to Trump without volunteering any information about the decision that apparently came on his watch.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
9 July 2025
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After a dramatic event, like an underwater landslide, covered her in sediment, her body remained hidden until 16 years ago, when scientists stumbled upon the nearly pristine fossil of the animal—a dolphin-like marine predator—and unearthed it for further research.—
Sara Hashemi,
Smithsonian Magazine,
8 July 2025
Verb
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The plucky little superdog drags Superman to the Fortress of Solitude, where he is treated by a posse of robots.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
11 July 2025
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That’s good for everyone, even expat journalists dragging their kids along to cover a new story.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
11 July 2025
Verb
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Prosecutors alleged Kelsey illegally shuffled money from his state senate campaigin committee to his federal campaign.—
Melissa Brown,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
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Each of these had a variable number of lithium atoms at each of the corners of these structures, and molecular simulations showed that lithium ions could readily move between these locations, allowing the material to shuffle ions around rapidly.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
26 June 2025
Verb
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Founded in 886 by King Alfred the Great, The Royal Mint strives to marry its illustrious history with innovations in sustainable sourcing of precious metals.—
Kyle Roderick,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
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Dunham, in turn, strives to find new ways of expressing the emotion, through disarming dialogue and affecting tableaux.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
10 July 2025
Verb
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Mafalda’s father is quiet and unassuming, trudging to his job as a clerk at an insurance company and returning home to wage war on the ants that threaten his houseplants.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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Eighteen Democrats joined with most Republicans to pass the legislation, which has trudged forward through a series of procedural hurdles on the Senate floor over the past four weeks.—
Julia Shapero,
The Hill,
17 June 2025
Verb
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In particular, website owners and SEO experts wanted to know how Cloudflare planned to block Google's bot from scraping sites to fuel AI overviews without risking blocking the same bot from crawling for valuable search engine placements.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 July 2025
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Both are unable, under any circumstances, to resist crawling under someone doing a downward-facing dog.—
Erika Sjule,
New Yorker,
8 July 2025
Verb
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Complaining on NextDoor about traffic, some locals fled downtown Austin like a movie monster was stomping behind them.—
Ramon Ramirez,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
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Eighteen months ago, playing those songs inspired fans at the Ryman Auditorium to stomp their feet, throw Resistol hats in the air and soak church pews in alcohol for two hours.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plod.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plod. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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