Synonyms of lurch

lurch 1 of 2

verb

ˈlərch 

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

• sway
• shake
• rock
• halt
• roll
• toss
• jerk
• wobble
• careen
• vibrate
• tumble
• falter
• stumble
• stagger
• vacillate
• pitch
• totter
• jolt
• waddle
• waver
• flounder
• blunder
• seesaw
• hobble
• toddle
• weave
• reel
• hitch
• oscillate
• buck
• undulate
• dodder
• wag
• teeter
• waggle

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

• stagger
• shuffle
• stumble
• weave
• totter
• stomp
• roll
• waddle
• careen
• sway
• reel
• rock
• teeter
• dodder
• wobble
• waver
• shamble
• lump
• blunder
• flounder
• clump
• barge
• seesaw
• clomp
• scuffle
• stamp
• tramp
• pound
• swag
• galumph
• scuff
• lumber
• tromp

lurch

2 of 2

noun

as in washout

Related Words

• washout
• collapse
• upset
• fiasco
• setback
• debacle
• flop
• whitewash
• failure
• fizzle
• whipping
• defeat
• overthrow
• shutout
• trimming
• licking
• beating
• rout
• nonsuccess
• drubbing
• plastering
• loss
• lump
• trouncing
• shellacking

Dissimilar Words

• victory
• success
• triumph
• win
• sweep
• achievement
• accomplishment
• runaway
• landslide
• blowout
• romp
• cakewalk
• walkover
• walkaway

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lurch

Verb

The old guard of the Democratic Party suffered another body blow when three socialist congressional candidates in New York with anti-Israel platforms swept to victory, lurching the party even further to the left. — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 25 June 2026

Initial data indicates both of these earthquakes were strike-slip, Magnani said, meaning one plate lurched past the other along the boundary. — Evan Bush, NBC news, 25 June 2026

Noun

The lurch from declaring fears about Iran to be mere media exaggerations to invoking imminent threat, from demanding the Nobel Peace Prize to luxuriating in lethality, is the essence of the autocrat’s monopoly on unpredictability. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026

The leftward lurch could cost Republicans control of Congress for the president’s final two years in office. — Steve Peoples, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2026