Thesaurus results for JERK AROUND

jerk around

verb

as in to play (on or upon)

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of jerk around And that’s not even taking into consideration the continual jerking around of Busy Philipps. —

Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 July 2025 He was locked up to be a franchise player, and franchise players aren’t typically jerked around like that. —

Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 18 June 2025 The vehicles are tricked out with surround sound, too; and at one point on our joyride the bus was jerked around by the bus driver to simulate the sensation of a subway speeding underfoot. —

Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 2025 The shocking news out of this summer’s Olympic break-dancing competition in Paris wasn’t that a female Australian competitor had hopped and jerked around like Uma Thurman being revived from a drug coma in Pulp Fiction. —

Christian Schneider, National Review, 24 Oct. 2024 Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons Category: Starter to star After a year where the former lottery pick was jerked around in regard to minutes, role, and even on-court responsibilities, Ivey is now set to enter his third year, finally with some stability attached to his name. —

Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024 For a population like Gaza’s, there’s not enough food, people have been jerked around from place to place. —

Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024 The guy in the center seat where the stringer was tied off noticed it was being jerked around. —

Idaho Statesman, 2 Mar. 2016

Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerk around

Verb

Orban started manipulating these grievances, and did so to significantly divide Hungarian society.

— John Shattuck, The Conversation, 27 Mar. 2026
As machines grow more powerful, society will become increasingly effective at shaping the world, while individuals who never learned to think deeply will be easier to manipulate.

— Shai Tubali, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026