1
as in faltering
to swing unsteadily back and forth or from side to side
he nervously teetered at the edge of the pool before finally diving in
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2
as in staggering
to move forward while swaying from side to side
the toddler teetered down the rink in her new ice skates
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in hesitating
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
was teetering on the brink of making a decision about college
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in tottering
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of teetering
Chandler Rome, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2025
Sweet Martha’s cookies are baked to order, then served warm in precariously tall stacks, teetering out of a paper cup, or, better yet, the stand’s signature plastic bucket, which gets loaded with about four dozen cookies despite fitting only three dozen.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The three-month average of the prime-age employment-to-population ratio has been teetering around the current level, but the labor market has remained resilient.
—Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Despite the dramatic implications of the film’s title, Erupcja has a casual, slice-of-life vibe to it that prevents Bethany and Rob’s woes from teetering into melodrama.
—Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
In a series that is admirably earnest, Last Rites easily takes the cake as the most wholesome chapter of the bunch, its insistence on God and faith teetering on religious propaganda.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2025
In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2025
The policy helped cut Louisiana's uninsured rate in half and shored up rural hospitals that had been teetering on closure.
—Drew Hawkins, NPR, 28 Aug. 2025
The economy was teetering on the edge when the crisis became full-blown in October 1907.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 26 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The Cleveland Guardians, winners of 10 straight games and technically tied with Houston for the third AL wild-card spot, also own the tiebreaker over an Astros team teetering toward collapse.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 21 Sep. 2025
Sweet Martha’s cookies are baked to order, then served warm in precariously tall stacks, teetering out of a paper cup, or, better yet, the stand’s signature plastic bucket, which gets loaded with about four dozen cookies despite fitting only three dozen.
—Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
The three-month average of the prime-age employment-to-population ratio has been teetering around the current level, but the labor market has remained resilient.
—Bill Stone, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Despite the dramatic implications of the film’s title, Erupcja has a casual, slice-of-life vibe to it that prevents Bethany and Rob’s woes from teetering into melodrama.
—Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
In a series that is admirably earnest, Last Rites easily takes the cake as the most wholesome chapter of the bunch, its insistence on God and faith teetering on religious propaganda.
—Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2025
In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2025
The policy helped cut Louisiana's uninsured rate in half and shored up rural hospitals that had been teetering on closure.
—Drew Hawkins, NPR, 28 Aug. 2025
The economy was teetering on the edge when the crisis became full-blown in October 1907.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for teetering
Verb
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The Street is critical of Cornell for not initiating enough changes and corrections to improve Target’s business, which has been faltering for several seasons.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
1 Oct. 2025
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The Lions moved to 2-1, while the Ravens are now 1-2 after faltering late in this game.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The young men in Bruins blue and gold staggering off the field afterwards dazed, confused.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Roughly two-thirds of the state’s billionaires made their fortunes in finance and investments, including richest resident (former NYC mayor) Michael Bloomberg, who’s worth staggering $109 billion.—
Ella Malmgren,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Even all-world corner Pat Surtain II didn’t have his best day, with Colts quarterback Daniel Jones not hesitating to go after him on routes over the middle.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
15 Sep. 2025
-
As adults, this pattern can look like hesitating to ask for help, avoiding vulnerability or keeping emotional struggles private, even from those closest to you.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Neither of them understands the other’s dynamic with Daniel, and the split-episode format keeps our sympathies teeter-tottering between each woman.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Only a few dozen have been directly imaged; the vast majority have been detected indirectly, primarily through the transit method (when a planet moves across a star and slightly dims its light) or radial velocity measurements (stars wobbling slightly because a planet is in orbit).—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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Jurors saw some wobbling footage that appeared to be taken from inside a bush, though prosecutors did not explicitly make clear if the footage was taken from Routh's perch.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The administration’s lurching one way and another with tariffs is another example.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
20 Sep. 2025
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The title track opens the affair by lurching and creeping forward for ten minutes with odd, off-putting lyrics.—
Jed Gottlieb,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Everything looks so rickety — this stadium wasn’t built for pandemonium like this.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
15 Aug. 2025
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Griff's was a cozy space inside with a small, rickety wooden patio in the front and a larger one in the back.—
Brianna Griff,
Chron,
13 Jan. 2023
Verb
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Anderson is a rare and rangy breed of cinematic maximalist—a satirical quasi-historian and pop-cultural magpie with a gift for weaving disparate influences into a marvellously unruly synthesis.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
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Of course, for most visitors, the very act of lining up, sweating, and weaving through stalls is part of the magic of visiting Taiwan.—
Clarissa Wei,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Teetering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/teetering. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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