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

Defense attorneys argued at trial that the investigation into the assassination was a mess and that the four were manipulated into taking blame for an internal coup.

— David Fischer, Sun Sentinel, 8 May 2026
Still, the video is raising broader concerns about how AI could be used to manipulate voters, particularly as increasingly realistic deepfake technology becomes more widespread.

— Steve Large, CBS News, 8 May 2026