wrangle 1 of 2

wrangle

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun wrangle contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of wrangle are altercation, quarrel, and squabble. While all these words mean "a noisy dispute usually marked by anger," wrangle suggests undignified and often futile disputation with a noisy insistence on differing opinions.

wrangle interminably about small issues

When could altercation be used to replace wrangle?

The synonyms altercation and wrangle are sometimes interchangeable, but altercation implies fighting with words as the chief weapon, although it may also connote blows.

a loud public altercation

When can quarrel be used instead of wrangle?

The words quarrel and wrangle are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, quarrel implies heated verbal contention, stressing strained or severed relations which may persist beyond the contention.

a quarrel nearly destroyed the relationship

When would squabble be a good substitute for wrangle?

Although the words squabble and wrangle have much in common, squabble stresses childish and unseemly dispute over petty matters, but it need not imply bitterness or anger.

a brief squabble over what to do next

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wrangle
Noun
Dive tour operators and anglers wrangle In St. Petersburg, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) temporarily closed pier fishing on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge after brown pelicans, ensnared by fishing lines, died. Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Dec. 2024 Parliamentary wrangles have recently toppled a government elsewhere. Helen Regan, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
Verb
By Elon Musk The Times also reported that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Musk wrangled over air traffic controllers. William Lambers, Newsweek, 8 Mar. 2025 Korshak told war stories of a life in promoting entertainment, of working closely with theater legends like Cameron Mackintosh and Garth Drabinsky, and of wrangling Barbra Streisand. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wrangle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrangle
Noun
  • Representation has occurred in litigation, intellectual property negotiations, labor and employment disputes, mergers and acquisitions, stadium financing deals and assorted other matters.
    Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 29 Mar. 2025
  • According to Smith, and a statement released by the Atlanta police department, police officers arrived at a house in Atlanta in response to an apparent dispute allegedly involving gunshots.
    Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork, 29 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • At times, Jason and Tonya seem to border on George and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, bickering with each other as Mikal listens or, more often than not, tunes it out with earphones on, playing video games.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 30 Mar. 2025
  • An alien spaceship has spiked an immensely popular bubblegum with an interdimensional ectoplasm that turns everyone who chews it into zombies, and the only ones who can save humanity are bickering foster brothers Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Eric Bauza).
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • The basketball star has a reputation for being able to silence media noise in the most crucial moments, but the family element of this quarrel seems to have hit a little too close to home this time.
    Christian Orozco, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2025
  • Carter’s eleventh-hour time line seems to be wrong, but the matter won’t be settled by these quarrels.
    Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Now, perhaps swayed by Trump’s popular vote victory – the first for a Republican candidate in 20 years – many US conservatives appear to have changed their position, arguing the US is more a democracy than a republic.
    Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
  • The imposition of the tariffs is also detrimental to the wider Caribbean Community, the Guyanese Chamber argues, and exacerbate the vulnerability of countries with already fragile economies.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • In the co-main event of the fight card, Brandon Grach and Liam Talivaa face off in a heavyweight rematch.
    Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
  • During the Veterans Memorial Invitational Tournament in Egg Harbor Township, which is about eight miles outside Atlantic City, a fight broke out between players on the Maple Shade Cadet and Frenzy Cadet teams.
    Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The first is that when U.S. soldiers returned from the war there, protesters spat upon them in disdain.
    Jonathan Zimmerman, Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2016
  • The flare comes after nearly a week of flares and coronal plasma ejections spat toward the planet that threatened disruptions to power and communications systems on Earth.
    Greg Wehner, Fox News, 15 May 2024
Noun
  • The two then had an altercation, during which one of the children was knocked over and Villalobos fled, according to authorities.
    Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2025
  • Although officially estranged, the couple were still living together with their three sons under the age of 11 at the time of the July 16, 2023, altercation outside their house.
    Liam Quinn, People.com, 26 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Netanyahu fired Ronen Bar, the previous holder of the post, last month after disagreements over who should be held responsible for failing to prevent the October 2023 attack by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Apr. 2025
  • An Israeli official denied that there was any disagreement between the two leaders.
    Mick Krever, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Wrangle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrangle. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.

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