Synonyms of sputtering

sputtering 1 of 2

adjective

as in muttering

Related Words

• muttering
• faltering
• stumbling
• stuttering
• mumbling
• halting
• stammering
• maundering
• hesitant
• inarticulate
• unvocal
• voiceless
• ineloquent
• mute
• speechless
• tongueless
• tongue-tied

Dissimilar Words

• articulate
• eloquent
• fluent
• voluble
• verbal
• vocal
• glib
• facile
• expressive
• well-spoken
• silver-tongued
• outspoken
• smooth-tongued

sputtering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sputter

as in chattering

to speak rapidly, inarticulately, and usually unintelligibly

she was so shocked that, for a moment, all she could do was sputter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• chattering
• shouting
• drooling
• chatting
• rattling
• muttering
• gibbering
• jabbering
• babbling
• stuttering
• prattling
• gabbling
• shrieking
• driveling
• mumbling
• screeching
• bumbling
• blathering
• stammering
• pattering
• trolling
• yakking
• murmuring
• blithering
• gabbing
• blabbering
• prating
• bleating
• jawing
• mouthing
• jangling
• chuntering
• smattering
• running on
• tittle-tattling
• maundering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• articulating
• pronouncing
• enunciating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sputtering

Adjective

This one required extra innings and undid a late surge by their sputtering offense. —Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 19 Apr. 2026

If the Jets beat Philadelphia on Saturday, Winnipeg’s locker room is going to be filled with all kinds of belief that the once sputtering Jets can make the playoffs after all. —Murat Ates, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026

Voters first approved the tax in 2020 but lowered it in 2024 amid San Francisco’s sputtering economic recovery. —Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Apr. 2026

In 2023, Authentic put the SI name on Lunatix, a sputtering ticket marketplace. —Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2026

And, yet, at the same time football was sputtering, something else was building. —Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2026

Drivers reported stalling, sputtering and newly illuminated check engine lights shortly after refueling their vehicles. —Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2026

Other factors from rising natural gas prices to the explosion of data centers across the country are also responsible for breathing life back into the sputtering coal industry. —Simmone Shah, Time, 3 Mar. 2026

In November, the Mavericks fired beleaguered general manager Nico Harrison — the prime target of fans’ ire — amid the Mavericks’ sputtering start and Doncic’s scorching early-season play in Los Angeles. —Eric Prisbell, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026

Verb

With the June primary looming, Villaraigosa’s campaign risks sputtering out. —Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026

With the majority of their big-league starting lineup competing in the World Baseball Classic, the offense is sputtering big-time. —Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026

After some false starts, a windfall came when David Geffen, the longtime contemporary art collector, made his historic pledge in 2017, injecting some excitement into a campaign that had been sputtering. —Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026

But what could have been a clever commentary on family dysfunction, success and the American way falls flat, only occasionally sputtering to life. —Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle, 18 Feb. 2026

When the time came for Alan Cumming to cease deliberations, Michael was reduced to sputtering epithets in random sequences. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026

The only constant is Mount Etna, looming off to one side, at times sputtering out smoke, ash, and short bursts of lava. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026

After sputtering at the beginning of 2026, the economy grew rapidly in the middle two quarters and is on pace to accelerate at a 3% pace in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary data from the Atlanta Fed. —Jeff Cox, CNBC, 3 Jan. 2026

The fact that Stockton had to keep doing that was a reflection of the offense around him sputtering. —Seth Emerson, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026