as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
a jury-rigged system for supplying the town's water while the main pumping station is being repaired
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in patched (together)
to make or assemble roughly or hastily
we jury-rigged shelves out of cartons and crates until we could afford real furniture
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of jury-rigged
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Verb
The trade between the periphery and the core was jury-rigged to favor the latter.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jury-rigged
Adjective
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Perugino’s compositions tend to be clumsy in their parallels—two people on the left, two people on the right—and the skin typically looks like candle wax.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
The collapse of the talks wasn’t the fault of bad faith or clumsy diplomacy.—
Farah N. Jan,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Spring is typically prime time for the housing market, but this year’s season is off to a rough start.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
22 Apr. 2026
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The star also gets a rough ride from many of the elementary school interviewees that allows the unlikely gardening enthusiast to embrace his more familiar manchild.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But no, the friend is not being rude.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
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In what neatly encapsulates the uncomfortable, rude, thin-skinned yet cruel, sarcastic and ultimately juvenile communication style of his online brood, the leader of the pack started with — what else — Lawrence’s looks.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Hubble famously launched to LEO with a flawed mirror, which was fixed by astronauts during a servicing mission in 1993.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Policymakers should be focused on unwinding this deeply flawed legacy, not doubling down on it.—
Elaine Parker,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The team was aggressive, if imperfect, on the bases, the former of which Tracy hopes becomes a staple of this very club.—
Spencer Nusbaum,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
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But experts have warned that these problems are an imperfect benchmark of artificial intelligence’s mathematical prowess.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Jury-rigged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jury-rigged. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
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