as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
my jerry-built wine racks may not look pretty, but they get the job done
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerry-built
Adjective
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Perugino’s compositions tend to be clumsy in their parallels—two people on the left, two people on the right—and the skin typically looks like candle wax.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026 -
The collapse of the talks wasn’t the fault of bad faith or clumsy diplomacy.—
Farah N. Jan,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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While the original church was built in 1545, it was demolished and rebuilt in 1705.—
Regina Zumarraga,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Sets would be built and then junked only to be rebuilt again at considerable cost due to an overall lack of familiarity with standard Hollywood filmmaking procedures.—
Chris Lee,
Vulture,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Instead, with the cooperation of Kilmer’s estate and his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, Voorhees reconstructed the performance using generative artificial intelligence, assembling the role from archival material and digital tools.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Every item at Archived has a story, from the Giseok Kim aluminum shelf where an unworn pair of 2005 reconstructed Nike Dunks are displayed, to the Marc Newson racks which archival Rick Owens hangs off.—
Samantha Lee
Connect
April 17,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Junior starter Colin Jack settled in after a rough third inning to pitch a complete game for Batavia (9-9-1, 5-3).—
Paul Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
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It's garnered a reputation for rough conditions for people in custody and guards alike over its history.—
Amethyst Martinez,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But no, the friend is not being rude.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
-
In what neatly encapsulates the uncomfortable, rude, thin-skinned yet cruel, sarcastic and ultimately juvenile communication style of his online brood, the leader of the pack started with — what else — Lawrence’s looks.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The federal government has issued contracts for over $300 million to retrofit the warehouse.—
Cara Tabachnick,
CBS News,
25 Apr. 2026
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Environmentally friendly and industrial professionals have demonstrated that a functional ship can be retrofitted with little difficulty.—
Srishti Gupta,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Hubble famously launched to LEO with a flawed mirror, which was fixed by astronauts during a servicing mission in 1993.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
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Policymakers should be focused on unwinding this deeply flawed legacy, not doubling down on it.—
Elaine Parker,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Sometimes acronyms are purposely devised to reinforce a message.—
Clarissa Brincat,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
-
In a statement released earlier this month, company officials claimed the engine was devised in response to rising costs in general aviation.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Jerry-built.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerry-built. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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