Synonyms of jerked

jerked

verb

past tense of jerk

1

as in yanked

to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion

I jerked to one side to avoid getting hit

jerked the leash to get the dog's attention

Synonyms & Similar Words

• yanked
• twitched
• lurched
• pulled
• tugged
• grabbed
• shook
• jolted
• bucked
• hitched
• bumped
• hoicked
• tore
• dragged
• staggered
• snatched
• ripped
• jiggled
• jogged
• plucked
• jounced
• wrenched
• joggled
• jigged
• lugged
• snapped (up)
• pitched
• tweaked
• wrung
• wrested

2

as in twitched

to make jerky or restless movements

you've got to quit jerking, or the barber will nick you by accident

Synonyms & Similar Words

• twitched
• tossed
• fidgeted
• squirmed
• twisted
• wiggled
• fiddled
• shivered
• trembled
• writhed
• shook
• jiggled
• wriggled
• thrashed
• shuddered
• threshed
• jigged
• quivered
• fluttered
• squiggled
• flitted
• quaked
• paced
• twittered

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rested
• relaxed
• unwound
• stilled
• calmed (down)

3

as in shook

to make a series of small irregular or violent movements

the car jerked with every shift of the gear

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shook
• shuddered
• vibrated
• quivered
• trembled
• shivered
• twitched
• jolted
• wobbled
• swayed
• convulsed
• jiggled
• swung
• jounced
• quaked
• joggled
• agitated
• juddered
• flickered
• throbbed
• rocked
• waved
• fluttered
• bucketed
• chattered
• quavered
• thrilled
• wavered
• fluctuated
• pulsed
• oscillated
• pulsated
• palpitated
• undulated
• doddered
• beat
• pitter-pattered
• pit-a-patted

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of jerked

During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Somewhere nearby, in a dark office, an eavesdropping oreja has just jerked to attention on his hard little chair. — Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard. — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 20 June 2026

Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled. — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026

In the summer of 2020, former Morgan Stanley trader Adam Crawley was wandering through Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, perfecting his qigong with a man called Master YanG, when a cold message on LinkedIn jerked him back to reality. — Phoebe Liu, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026

My empty paper bowl jerked along the belt, stopping under each funnel. — Billy Perrigo, Time, 8 May 2026

The plane jerked to a stop as two trucks passed just feet in front of its nose. — Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026

We are jerked between past and present as his backstory gets filled in, one jogged memory at a time. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026