totter

verb

ˈtä-tər How to pronounce totter (audio)
Definition of totternext
1
as in to stagger
to move forward while swaying from side to side tottered around the house as she practiced walking in high heels

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in to falter
to swing unsteadily back and forth or from side to side the figurine tottered precariously for a moment before falling off the shelf

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of totter Now, even that tiny effort is tottering. — Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026 Women often totter along a delicate line between beauty and torture, femininity and the bondage of expectation. — Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025 But The Gilded Age doesn’t do pure villains with its main cast, and Oscar totters between failson and tragic figure, the closeted heir of the Van Rhijn family dragged to hell and back after being defrauded of his mother’s fortune. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025 On the floor, waist-high piles of books tottered like miniature leaning towers of Pisa. — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 12 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for totter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totter
  1. stagger
  2. falter
  3. lurch
  4. tremble
  5. shake
  6. wobble
Verb
  • But only weeks into his first season, as the Jets staggered to a 3-14 record, the team traded two of its best defensive players in cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The screening times were staggered, allowing Pawlikowski to hurry from one place to the next and introduce his film.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of stagger
Verb
  • Washington’s diplomatic efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine have faltered, with Moscow looking to up its defense spending next year.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • From 2019 to 2022, Solomon led an aggressive expansion of the bank’s consumer-lending business, which ultimately faltered and resulted in billions of pretax losses.
    — Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of falter
Verb
  • The alternative is a region that lurches from crisis to crisis, and from one extreme to another.
    — DAN RESTREPO, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Maybe this is what the Chargers are — lurching, sputtering and unable to consistently move the football, despite an offensive overhaul packed with lofty expectations.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of lurch
Verb
  • But now, the occupation seems to tremble before Palestinian children holding paper and string.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Those afflicted would tremble and jerk around, lose the ability to stand or swallow, and, after many months of slow suffering, die.
    — David Remnick, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of tremble
Verb
  • The event, televised by dozens of channels across Serbia, capped a week of Vucic touring towns and villages in an apparent bid to shore up his popularity that's been shaken after almost two years of sustained anti-government protests.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Bottle tops popped, can tabs cracked, and cocktail shakers shook all day Thursday at the Aftershock music festival at Sacramento’s Discovery Park.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of shake
Verb
  • If the fan still wobbles, a ceiling-fan balancing kit may help.
    — Tricia Goss, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Those impacts could also extend as far south as the New Jersey coast if the storm wobbles farther west.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of wobble

Browse Nearby Words

totted (up)
totter
tottered
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Totter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totter. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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