蠢うごめく

う

ご

め

く

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

蠢く · godan verb (-ku)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	蠢うごめく	蠢うごめかない
Polite	蠢うごめきます	蠢うごめきません
Past polite	蠢うごめきました	蠢うごめきませんでした
Past	蠢うごめいた	蠢うごめかなかった
Te-form	蠢うごめいて	蠢うごめかないで
Desire	蠢うごめきたい	蠢うごめきたくない
Potential	蠢うごめける	蠢うごめけない
Passive	蠢うごめかれる	蠢うごめかれない
Causative	蠢うごめかせる	蠢うごめかせない
Causative passive	蠢うごめかせられるalso 蠢うごめかされる	蠢うごめかせられないalso 蠢うごめかされない
Volitional	蠢うごめこう
Polite volitional	蠢うごめきましょう
Imperative	蠢うごめけ	蠢うごめくな
Conditional	蠢うごめけば	蠢うごめかなければ
Tara conditional	蠢うごめいたら	蠢うごめかなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-ku), intransitive verb

wriggle; squirm; crawl like a worm

usually written using kana alone

Describes the writhing movement of many small creatures, or a mass of things moving in a wriggling manner. Often used for insects, worms, or figuratively for crowds.

腐くさった肉にくに蛆うじがうごめいていた。
Maggots were wriggling in the rotten meat.
暗くら闇やみで何なにかがうごめく音おとがした。
I heard something squirming in the darkness.

See all 7 example sentences ›

Kanji

蠢wriggle
動move, motion, change
蠕crawling of a worm

Related words

這はう
這う means 'to crawl' in a general sense, while うごめく emphasizes wriggling or squirming movement, often of many small things.
もぞもぞ
もぞもぞ is an onomatopoeia for squirming or fidgeting, often used for a single creature or person, whereas うごめく describes the movement itself.

Written forms

蠢うごめくUsage48%
Standard kanji spelling, though the word is usually written in kana.
うごめくUsage52%
Kana spelling is the most common and recommended for learners.
動うごめく
irregular kanji usage
Irregular kanji usage; rarely used.
蠕うごめく
irregular kanji usage
Irregular kanji usage; rarely used.

Etymology

The word is likely a compound of 動く (ugoku, 'to move') and an element めく that adds a sense of 'showing signs of' or 'appearing to'. The exact derivation is uncertain.