Synonyms of jams

jams 1 of 2

noun

plural of jam

1

as in snarls

a crowded mass (as of cars) that impedes or blocks movement

thousands of cars trying to leave the stadium's parking lot at the same time are sure to create a jam

Synonyms & Similar Words

• snarls
• congestions
• bottlenecks
• logjams
• tailbacks
• backups
• jam-ups
• traffic
• delays
• tangles
• locks
• tie-ups
• stoppages
• gridlocks
• slowdowns
• crawls

2

as in pickles

a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape

the heavy rain puts us in a real jam: all of the preparations are for a garden wedding

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pickles
• predicaments
• dilemmas
• holes
• swamps
• binds
• corners
• impasses
• difficulties
• boxes
• rabbit holes
• spots
• quagmires
• rattraps
• fixes
• mires
• crises
• sticky wickets
• jackpots
• kettles of fish
• soups
• troubles
• plights
• nodes
• hot waters
• catch-22's
• scrapes
• standstills
• emergencies
• logjams
• deadlocks
• quandaries
• pinches
• straits
• clutches
• halts
• crossroads
• exigencies
• stalemates
• junctures

jams

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of jam

1

as in stuffs

to fit (people or things) into a tight space

jammed his clothes into the already bulging hamper

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stuffs
• crams
• loads
• squeezes
• sandwiches
• wedges
• crowds
• rams
• packs
• shoehorns
• crushes
• fills
• heaps
• jam-packs

2

as in blocks

to prevent passage through by filling with something

firefighters found the nightclub's doorways jammed with trapped patrons

Synonyms & Similar Words

• blocks
• obstructs
• stuffs
• congests
• clogs
• chokes
• floods
• fills
• clots
• occludes
• stops (up)
• plugs (up)
• dams
• gums (up)
• packs
• corks
• furs
• gridlocks
• overwhelms
• stopples
• silts
• gluts
• spiles
• stoppers
• swamps
• inundates
• bungs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• opens (up)
• frees
• unplugs
• clears
• unblocks
• unclogs
• unstops
• excavates
• scoops (out)
• empties
• hollows (out)
• lightens

3

as in loads

to put into (something) as much as can be held or contained

the inn will jam a guest's picnic basket with an array of tempting foods

Synonyms & Similar Words

• loads
• fills
• packs
• stuffs
• crams
• brims
• heaps
• floods
• refills
• jam-packs
• charges
• gluts
• swamps
• drenches
• reloads
• squashes
• bloats
• crowds
• bulks
• shoves
• squeezes
• rams
• overflows
• mats
• replenishes
• presses
• refreshes
• overcharges
• saturates
• repacks
• penetrates
• overfills
• crushes
• honeycombs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• empties
• voids
• clears
• eliminates
• drains
• lightens
• exhausts
• vacates
• draws (off)
• bleeds
• sweeps
• depletes
• evacuates
• cleans
• flushes
• purges
• scours

4

as in pushes

to force one's way

several more people jammed into the bus even though there was hardly room to stand

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pushes
• squeezes
• elbows
• presses
• muscles
• crashes
• bulls
• shoves
• shoulders
• bores
• jostles
• thrusts
• bulldozes
• rams

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of jams

Noun

Most hoppers require you to place your bills as neat and evenly as possible to avoid jams and other issues, but better hoppers give you some wiggle room. — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026

If the party gets a little too wild, and someone knocks the jams into the drink, don't worry. — Kelsey Fogarty, PC Magazine, 17 Sep. 2026

From late May through early September, weekly music jams with fiddles and banjos celebrate the area’s musical heritage. — Erin Gifford, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026

Fortunately, that’s weapon enough, as Yeoh’s action prowess is well used in Sethi’s pulse-pounding thriller with a killer soundtrack, including jams by Irish rockers Thin Lizzy. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026

This 10-day South Bay festival marking its 18th year jams in an expansive selection of shorts — from documentaries to narratives — and gives newbie and veteran filmmakers working in various genres a much deserved spotlight. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2026

In The Ginger Man, Dangerfield repeatedly beseeches Blessed Oliver to get him out of jams. — Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

The seller of Folgers coffee and Smucker’s jams also raised its forecast for profit over the full year. — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Now, the Mets are using him in the seventh or eighth innings to get out tough left-handers, or to get out of jams. — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 22 Aug. 2026

Verb

Responding to these calls also jams up staff and vehicles, increasing emergency response times for the rest of the city. — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Bugs Bunny jams himself against the edge and grits his teeth in agony. — Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026

Keanu Reeves jams out with his band, Dogstar, at their concert at Carlswerk Victoria in Cologne, Germany on July 2. — Brendan Le Updated, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026

That crud jams up the works of your coffee maker, slows brewing down, and impacts the taste of your morning brew. — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 16 Feb. 2026

The move effectively jams the upper chamber by including the repeal in the funding package without the necessary time to reverse course, giving the Senate no option but to approve it. — Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 22 Jan. 2026

Traffic regularly jams the freeway into the city, and residents fight over efforts to build more homes. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2025

Someone breaks in, someone jams the signal from the home’s alarm system, someone monitors police radio traffic. — Bebe Hodges, Cincinnati Enquirer, 24 Aug. 2025

After Dex takes her down, Weyland recovers her brain and jams it into a supercomputer. — Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2025