Synonyms of lurch

lurch 1 of 2

verb

ˈlərch 

1

as in to sway

to make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions

the room lurched with every jolt of the earthquake

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sway
• shake
• rock
• halt
• roll
• toss
• jerk
• wobble
• careen
• vibrate
• tumble
• falter
• stumble
• stagger
• vacillate
• pitch
• totter
• jolt
• waddle
• waver
• flounder
• blunder
• seesaw
• hobble
• toddle
• weave
• reel
• hitch
• oscillate
• buck
• undulate
• dodder
• wag
• teeter
• waggle

2

as in to stagger

to move forward while swaying from side to side

dressed in his zombie costume, the boy lurched down the street in his quest for Halloween candy

Synonyms & Similar Words

• stagger
• shuffle
• stumble
• weave
• totter
• stomp
• roll
• waddle
• careen
• sway
• reel
• rock
• teeter
• dodder
• wobble
• waver
• shamble
• lump
• blunder
• flounder
• clump
• barge
• seesaw
• clomp
• scuffle
• stamp
• tramp
• pound
• swag
• galumph
• scuff
• lumber
• tromp

lurch

2 of 2

noun

as in washout

Related Words

• washout
• collapse
• upset
• fiasco
• setback
• debacle
• flop
• whitewash
• failure
• fizzle
• whipping
• defeat
• overthrow
• shutout
• trimming
• licking
• beating
• rout
• nonsuccess
• drubbing
• plastering
• loss
• lump
• trouncing
• shellacking

Dissimilar Words

• victory
• success
• triumph
• win
• sweep
• achievement
• accomplishment
• runaway
• landslide
• blowout
• romp
• cakewalk
• walkover
• walkaway

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lurch

Verb

There followed an uncomfortable, lurching ride in a rickety old coach. — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Push your right foot down, and the Grand Sport lurches forward like a bat out of hell and straight into two esses, which right away show you how nicely dialed-in the steering is. — Jerry Perez, The Drive, 3 Sep. 2026

Noun

The beat, provided by live drums, lurches and lumbers, following the knotty runs of notes instead of setting up a pulse. — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 9 Apr. 2026

The lurch from declaring fears about Iran to be mere media exaggerations to invoking imminent threat, from demanding the Nobel Peace Prize to luxuriating in lethality, is the essence of the autocrat’s monopoly on unpredictability. — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026