Synonyms of lurching

lurching

verb

present participle of lurch

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

• swaying
• rocking
• shaking
• rolling
• jerking
• wobbling
• careening
• tossing
• halting
• vibrating
• tumbling
• seesawing
• faltering
• stumbling
• vacillating
• staggering
• tottering
• waddling
• wavering
• blundering
• floundering
• hobbling
• reeling
• jolting
• pitching
• weaving
• bucking
• teetering
• hitching
• oscillating
• toddling
• undulating
• doddering
• waggling
• wagging

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

• staggering
• shuffling
• weaving
• stumbling
• rolling
• tottering
• waddling
• stomping
• careening
• reeling
• swaying
• teetering
• rocking
• doddering
• wobbling
• wavering
• shambling
• blundering
• floundering
• pounding
• seesawing
• scuffling
• barging
• clumping
• stamping
• lumbering
• galumphing
• swagging
• lumping
• tramping
• scuffing
• clomping
• tromping

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lurching

The United States, which had been lurching toward entry in the Second World War, was suddenly and inescapably thrust into global conflict. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026

Republicans see Democrats lurching to the left and embracing socialism as an opening to link their opponents to the far more radical communism. — Garrett Downs, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026

The same boom-and-bust dependency on the oil industry, whose profits were now funnelled through the regime and its allies, kept the country lurching from one crisis to the next. — Armando Ledezma, New Yorker, 30 June 2026

The old guard of the Democratic Party suffered another body blow when three socialist congressional candidates in New York with anti-Israel platforms swept to victory, lurching the party even further to the left. — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 25 June 2026

Taking the ride with Lazy Horse means embracing that chaos, lurching from song to song. — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2026

When Colombia heads to the polls June 21, the region will be watching to see if the nation joins the right-wing surge across Latin America, with Chile, Honduras, and Costa Rica lurching to the political right over the past year. — Manuel Rueda, Christian Science Monitor, 20 June 2026

As is Takal, clearly having fun with the film’s queasy, lurching atmospherics, abetted by the sparse, shivery, atonal chimes of Jonathan Goldsmith’s score, and the floating, disembodied feel of Robert Leitzell’s camerawork. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 June 2026

These are some of the heaviest grooves that Seefeel have created in ages, channeling lurching currents through intricate chains of dub delay. — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 6 May 2026