1
as in to sway
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 to stagger
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
as in washout
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lurch
Pien Huang, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
There’s always a powerful urge to bury the whole trauma, to lurch toward normalcy, whatever that may be historically.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
The hope is that the institutional reforms started by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus deliver the necessary checks and balances to avert another lurch toward despotism.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lurch
Verb
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’s always a powerful urge to bury the whole trauma, to lurch toward normalcy, whatever that may be historically.
—David Blumenthal, STAT, 24 Mar. 2026
Noun
Newsom, who has appeared on Real Time, could benefit from a lurch toward the middle, Maher told The California Post.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
The hope is that the institutional reforms started by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus deliver the necessary checks and balances to avert another lurch toward despotism.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 28 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lurch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lurch
Verb
-
Biff shouts at him at the show’s excruciating climax) sways between light and dark, between the road and the deadly shoulder, advancing through his last hours on earth as if through the stations of the cross.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
-
There were bird feeders hanging from the trees, fountains for the pollinators, and wind chimes swaying to and fro from the back porch.—
Stephanie Osmanski,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
As the Transit officers descended down to the 4/5/6 platform, one of Griffin’s victims came staggering up the stairs, seeking medial attention, Tisch said.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The Heat continued to stagger the minutes of its top two scorers, as Herro again started and Norman Powell again played off the bench.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The rain will not be a washout, but rather a series of brief showers continuing through the morning hours.—
CBS Miami Team,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
-
After 48 years of unsuccessful politicking, one might be tempted to call the idea of indexing capital gains a certified washout.—
Business Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The boom could be loud enough to shake windows in some areas.—
Jayne Yutig,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The group composes its own sacred music, lilting songs that prompt women in green-and-white wraparounds to vigorously shake their bodies.—
Rodney Muhumuza,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To be present in Hungary on the eve of its upcoming elections is to feel the tremors of a regime confronting the prospect of collapse.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Spieth, nine holes away from another wire-to-wire victory, throws it away with a collapse around Amen Corner that is shocking even by Augusta National standards.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The blistering journey was followed by a splash landing in the ocean where the crew rocked on the water awaiting extraction before being transported to a boat, then a helicopter, and finally the recovery ship.—
Chelsea Gohd,
Space.com,
13 Apr. 2026
-
But things changed in early 2024, when Fidesz was rocked by scandal.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Boras Classic has seen lots of upsets this week.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
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Unless this works in the playoffs to the tune of upsets in the first and second rounds, this will all be forgotten come next season as something that didn’t work.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And then there was the Byju’s fiasco.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
3 Apr. 2026
-
To hear the critics’ version of events, an unprovoked and unnecessary attack on Iran, launched at Israel’s behest, is already a foreign-policy fiasco that has put the global economy at risk without any clear objective or endgame.—
Bret Stephens,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lurch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lurch. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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