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 trouble comes when, having ventured on such a tangent, the critic has to lurch back on track. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026

His car lurched forward with Miller’s arm still reaching through the window, briefly dragging the cop down the street. — Guthrie Scrimgeour, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2026

Noun

The beat, provided by live drums, lurches and lumbers, following the knotty runs of notes instead of setting up a pulse. — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 9 Apr. 2026

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