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
  • Vucic’s ousting shows the downside of that approach, as the whole relationship will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Nothing was stable, every framework was being rebuilt in real time and the only thing that separated functional teams from struggling ones was behavioral reliability under extreme ambiguity.
    — Amy Alexy, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of rebuilt
Adjective
  • The Pistons have raced out to a hot start, while the Knicks are still searching for answers after a rough opening week.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Molcajetes constructed of lava rock with pits creating a rough and not smooth nor easily cleanable surface were in the facility.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of rough
Verb
  • By stringing multiple kill dates of moss samples taken from different spots, scientists reconstructed a map of an advancing ice margin.
    — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The team reconstructed the evolutionary history of GxpS, the enzyme that produces GameXPeptides, to investigate how different peptide structures evolved.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of reconstructed
Adjective
  • While older generations may interpret limited eye contact, a flat expression or a pause before responding as rude, lazy or unprofessional, that might not be a younger person’s intent at all, Leahy said.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Bel glows with a kind of rude Californian health and goes once a week for chiropractic adjustments, including of her jaw.
    — Alessandra Codinha, Vogue, 23 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
  • Perhaps less exciting is the fact her failures are more than just the flawed Edison machine.
    — Torie Bosch, STAT, 24 Oct. 2026
  • From a charismatic Formula 1 racing legend to a brilliant but flawed soccer god to a troubled, tragic singer, Academy Award-winning docmaker Asif Kapadia has made a career out of telling the stories of larger-than-life figures.
    — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of flawed
Verb
  • In a bid to get more people interested in the event, ESPN and Marvel Studios devised an intriguing collaboration that will include a 30-second promo voiced by Paul Bettany, the actor who has long played Vision in various Marvel films.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Designed for twice-daily use, the cream is meant to be applied with a massage ritual the brand devised just for the cream—a final touch on its feel-good MO.
    — Jenny Berg, Vogue, 14 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 31 Oct. 2026.

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