1
as in swaying
to make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions
the room lurched with every jolt of the earthquake
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in staggering
to move forward while swaying from side to side
dressed in his zombie costume, the boy lurched down the street in his quest for Halloween candy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lurching
Another neighbor recalled an elevator lurching between floors.
—
Elle McLogan, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile the Caliente Range — those mountains just to the west — are lurching the opposite way.
—Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Still, morale is much worse compared with December 2024, before DOGE took aim at the health agency's budgets and staffing, and before rounds of lurching job cuts and reinstatements left thousands of CDC workers in limbo or severed from their careers.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Brant, who was elected in a special election in August, inherited an office already in disarray, in a county that has spent the past year lurching from one government crisis to the next.
—Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register, 19 Feb. 2026
Hence the lurching shift in financing.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Sure enough, a big rock upended from beneath my toe and sent me lurching headlong to the water.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 15 Feb. 2026
Natanya complicates her old-school character sketch with cerebral shifts in perspective, affecting each of the voices that accompany a young woman’s drive for success and independence (demanding friends and parents, sexist expectations, her own willpower) in a lurching cascade of melodies.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 13 Jan. 2026
Elle McLogan, CBS News, 18 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile the Caliente Range — those mountains just to the west — are lurching the opposite way.
—Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Still, morale is much worse compared with December 2024, before DOGE took aim at the health agency's budgets and staffing, and before rounds of lurching job cuts and reinstatements left thousands of CDC workers in limbo or severed from their careers.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Brant, who was elected in a special election in August, inherited an office already in disarray, in a county that has spent the past year lurching from one government crisis to the next.
—Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register, 19 Feb. 2026
Hence the lurching shift in financing.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Sure enough, a big rock upended from beneath my toe and sent me lurching headlong to the water.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 15 Feb. 2026
Natanya complicates her old-school character sketch with cerebral shifts in perspective, affecting each of the voices that accompany a young woman’s drive for success and independence (demanding friends and parents, sexist expectations, her own willpower) in a lurching cascade of melodies.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 13 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lurching
Verb
-
Many in Sacramento are skeptical that Brin and his fellow ultra-rich will succeed in swaying California state politics.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The mailbox, which surprisingly pops up from a landscape of sugar-white sand and sea oats swaying in the wind, creates a scene straight from a movie.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The bill, which passed with bipartisan support, addressed concerns about giving one party too much power by staggering the new authorizations out over a 0-year period.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The Powell-Herro partnership also was never able to consistently produce positive results, as the Heat was left staggering their minutes by the end of the season.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Cinemas nationwide will soon be rocking to the story of one of music’s greatest talents.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
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Tales From ’85 indicates very little interest in rocking the Stranger Things boat, narratively or tonally or any other-ly.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There was major line shuffling overall by Cooper on this night, not just Kucherov, but tweaks to three lines, which ended up looking a little different than what was shown in pregame warmup.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
YoshimiO, sharing fellow ’90s icon Flea’s recent interest in the instrument, turns in a credible trumpet line during the track’s shuffling, exuberant second half.—
Reed Jackson,
SPIN,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
On Thursday night, after shaking off a deal that was short-circuited by another team, the Ravens would make a pick (Penn State guard Vega Ioane) that symbolically spoke to the franchise’s core values.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Backstage, everyone was crying and shaking, Pearlman says.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Leith emphasizes that Dwell Secure’s functionality extends beyond emergency scenarios, weaving into everyday property management.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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Never tested in orbit, NASA’s robot could, in theory, perform tasks like weaving solar power stations and antennae in space from spools of carbon fiber.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lurching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lurching. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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