1
as in swaying
to make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions
the room lurched with every jolt of the earthquake
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in staggering
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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lurching
Still, morale is much worse compared with December 2024, before DOGE took aim at the health agency's budgets and staffing, and before rounds of lurching job cuts and reinstatements left thousands of CDC workers in limbo or severed from their careers.
—
Pien Huang, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Brant, who was elected in a special election in August, inherited an office already in disarray, in a county that has spent the past year lurching from one government crisis to the next.
—Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register, 19 Feb. 2026
Hence the lurching shift in financing.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Sure enough, a big rock upended from beneath my toe and sent me lurching headlong to the water.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 15 Feb. 2026
Natanya complicates her old-school character sketch with cerebral shifts in perspective, affecting each of the voices that accompany a young woman’s drive for success and independence (demanding friends and parents, sexist expectations, her own willpower) in a lurching cascade of melodies.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 13 Jan. 2026
The midterm blue wave backlash is gathering, with the generic ballot lurching in the Democrats' favor and Trump’s popularity cratering.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
After 40 days, the longest government shutdown in American history finally appears to be lurching toward an end.
—Nik Popli, Time, 10 Nov. 2025
Pien Huang, NPR, 25 Mar. 2026
There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.
—Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Brant, who was elected in a special election in August, inherited an office already in disarray, in a county that has spent the past year lurching from one government crisis to the next.
—Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register, 19 Feb. 2026
Hence the lurching shift in financing.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2026
Sure enough, a big rock upended from beneath my toe and sent me lurching headlong to the water.
—Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 15 Feb. 2026
Natanya complicates her old-school character sketch with cerebral shifts in perspective, affecting each of the voices that accompany a young woman’s drive for success and independence (demanding friends and parents, sexist expectations, her own willpower) in a lurching cascade of melodies.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 13 Jan. 2026
The midterm blue wave backlash is gathering, with the generic ballot lurching in the Democrats' favor and Trump’s popularity cratering.
—Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
After 40 days, the longest government shutdown in American history finally appears to be lurching toward an end.
—Nik Popli, Time, 10 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lurching
Verb
-
Society is kind of swaying towards a different type of entertainment.—
Myrna Petlicki,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Among the hundreds in attendance was 27-year-old Adrian Aviles, holding a large American flag swaying in the wind from a PVC pipe.—
Devoun Cetoute,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Instead of staggering the fests and conferences over nine or 11 days, everything is now crammed into the same seven-day period, including film and TV, education, comedy and tech.—
Thor Christensen,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Add additional rows of blocks, staggering them over the previous layer and using construction adhesive between rows.—
Daniel Modlin,
Architectural Digest,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Technically, Brown’s been rocking a horseshoe or biker mustache.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
-
At a certain point, Frenza’s rocking transcends her hips, seems to come from something greater than her, from her very essence.—
Agnieszka Szpila,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
These chips spend most of their energy shuffling data between a memory unit and a processor.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Mar. 2026
-
So what better way to cap all that off than closing out the Oscars — even if the clip played while the audience was shuffling out of the theater and calling their Ubers.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Structure information summary Most structures in this region are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
27 Mar. 2026
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The fine powder is very messy to work with, however, so simply shaking it onto your chain wouldn't be practical.—
Ben Coxworth
March 27,
New Atlas,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In Foini village the Dio Dio Collective organizes chair-weaving workshops, part of efforts to document and revive the island's furniture-making heritage.—
Selina Denman,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Mar. 2026
-
His sympathetic patter also gives Guirgis an opportunity to start weaving in the character’s politics.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lurching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lurching. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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