1
as in to lurch
to move forward while swaying from side to side
I was so tired last night that I just staggered upstairs to bed without eating dinner
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to falter
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
a daunting problem that would make even the most decisive person stagger just a bit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of stagger
Cheng likes to build muni bond ladders, which means staggering the maturity dates of multiple bonds.
—
Michelle Fox, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025
The logistical feat those intrepid women accomplished staggers the mind of any contemporary author.
—Adrian Miller, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
For his part, Gonzalez staggers outside and falls to his knees.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Oct. 2025
To get through the season and the playoffs, staggering the minutes of Green and Horford is logical, even with Quintin Post picking up some center minutes.
—Jannelle Moore, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stagger
Michelle Fox, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025
The logistical feat those intrepid women accomplished staggers the mind of any contemporary author.
—Adrian Miller, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2025
For his part, Gonzalez staggers outside and falls to his knees.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Oct. 2025
To get through the season and the playoffs, staggering the minutes of Green and Horford is logical, even with Quintin Post picking up some center minutes.
—Jannelle Moore, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stagger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stagger
Verb
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Back then, Newcastle’s thin squad staggered between results, lurching from challenging the best sides in the league to befuddling losses to inferior squads.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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But as the shutdown lurches through its fifth week, and legislators direct blame at each other, food pantries across the Kansas City area are left to grapple with the fallout.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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After Ohtani faltered, the game was the Blue Jays’ to lose, but the Dodgers kept pecking away.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Sportico.com,
2 Nov. 2025
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And when New York falters, the ripple effects are often national.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This is a universe in which towers totter above precipices, cellars drip hollowly and women wear impossible dresses in the snow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
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On the floor, waist-high piles of books tottered like miniature leaning towers of Pisa. My father has always been an avid learner and reader.—
The Christian Science Monitor,
Christian Science Monitor,
12 June 2025
Verb
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Blashill didn’t hesitate to go right back to Knight after the goalie’s first poor performance of the season Thursday night in Winnipeg.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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The Nashville forward was awarded the PK after Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo hesitated coming off his line and was called for a foul.—
Michelle Kaufman,
Miami Herald,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Haraburda said bad actors are aiming to weave together all types of information about you to gain access to your bank accounts, steal your ID or even create a new ID.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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The Gran Vilaya Trek weaves a tapestry of natural and cultural wonders, winding through more than 30 miles of ancient cloud forests and pre-Incan archaeological remains.—
Ally Jaksen,
Outside,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Although the discovery has only now been formally studied, cavers from the Czech Speleological Society first stumbled upon the phenomenon in 2022 during an expedition in Vromoner Canyon.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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Uber reported strong growth in its third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, but stumbled on the bottom line after absorbing a $479 million charge for what the company described as undisclosed legal and regulatory matters.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Palantir said last week that home improvement retailer Lowe’s was already incorporating this into its tech stack, but the software company declined on Monday to share other companies that had rolled that out.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
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Assuming some children wimped out after the first drink, this statistic suggests that large numbers of Jacksonian-era adults were rolling eight belts deep seven days a week, with all the attendant implications for social and political life.—
Dan Brooks,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Smith steadied a Dodgers team constantly shuffling the top of its lineup and searching for the right matchups from its bullpen.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
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The two are lost in time in the halls of the White Octopus Hotel, shuffling through 1935 and 2015 London in hopes of a second chance.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stagger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stagger. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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