jerry-built 1 of 2

adjective

ˈjer-ē-ˌbilt How to pronounce jerry-built (audio)
Definition of jerry-builtnext
as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed my jerry-built wine racks may not look pretty, but they get the job done

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

jerry-built

2 of 2

verb

past tense of jerry-build
as in rebuilt

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerry-built
  1. clumsy
  2. rebuilt
  3. rough
  4. reconstructed
  5. rude
  6. retrofitted
  7. flawed
  8. devised
Adjective
  • As Ivan and Nina wrestle with their own emotional truths, which range from her mother Nora’s departure from their lives to Ivan’s clumsy recitations of Nina’s childhood antics, something alarming is afoot.
    — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Here, his clumsy, winky, affected, and self-undercutting direction can’t even work the charming Jenna Ortega to a great performance, as her Klara is flattened into a bundle of manic pixie mannerisms both physical and verbal.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of clumsy
Verb
  • Veterans Park will see two tennis courts fully rebuilt and its basketball courts replaced.
    — Steve Zalusky, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026
  • After a three-year closure following a fire, owners Don and Eva Lo rebuilt the original building (once a KFC) into a shiny new space.
    — Allecia Vermillion, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of rebuilt
Adjective
  • An Australian man survived more than two months lost at sea in 2023 with his dog Bella after rough seas damaged their boat and its electronics system.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026
  • However, neither rating guarantees that a folding screen or hinge will survive years of rough treatment.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of rough
Verb
  • From his emergence in the mid-1950s until his passing in 2018, Taylor not only disassembled jazz and reconstructed it in his own style, but also found ways to make the world listen.
    — Levi Dayan, Pitchfork, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Does limited roster turnover the season following a championship give a team a leg up over others that were reconstructed year over year?
    — Kyle Wagner, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of reconstructed
Adjective
  • Rosie Campbell, Managing Director of Eleos AI Research, a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and addressing the potential well-being of AI, said that some other studies have even shown that rude questions can actually improve results.
    — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Others have seized on comments he’s made about the event, such as calling attendees rude or casting town halls as dangerous.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of rude
Verb
  • The building will be gutted to be retrofitted for the HealthLinc clinic.
    — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The press coverage essentially retrofitted 1692 with the anxieties of 1976, recasting the Salem girls as teenagers on a bad trip.
    — Jennifer Byrne, Popular Science, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of retrofitted
Adjective
  • Many in Serbia believe that the concrete canopy crashed because of flawed renovation work caused by corruption and negligence that prevailed in major state infrastructure projects championed by Vucic's government.
    — MARKO DROBNJAKOVIC, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Jackson County used flawed property value assessments, inadequately notified taxpayers, conducted substandard inspections and had poor oversight, according to a scathing report from Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of flawed
Verb
  • Composers devised elaborate systems for writing music that ventured deep into dissonance, away from the rules of tonality that had governed it for centuries.
    — Andy Cush, Pitchfork, 31 Oct. 2026
  • Kushner, in a fury, devised the salacious revenge plot that has colored his reputation ever since.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of devised
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.

Browse Nearby Words

jerry-builds
jerry-built
jerry-rigged
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Cite this Entry

“Jerry-built.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerry-built. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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