tottered

verb

past tense of totter
1
as in staggered
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 faltered
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 tottered 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tottered
  1. staggered
  2. faltered
  3. lurched
  4. wobbled
  5. shook
  6. rocked
  7. shuddered
Verb
  • Arrivals were staggered with people having to wait for hours with nothing to do.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 7 July 2026
  • Airbnb, DoorDash, Reddit, and Snowflake all either shortened the 180 days or staggered them.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 3 July 2026
Definition of staggered
Verb
  • Trial diversity faltered after the administration purged all references to DEI from the websites of its agencies and in much of its research.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 6 July 2026
  • Erdoğan’s rise as a nationalist leader As Turkey's economy slowed and regional ambitions faltered, Erdoğan pivoted once again.
    — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • Adams’ shoulders lurched on the bench, while Richards fell to his knees, dug his afro into the grass, and closed his eyes in pain.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 7 July 2026
  • Initial data indicates both of these earthquakes were strike-slip, Magnani said, meaning one plate lurched past the other along the boundary.
    — Evan Bush, NBC news, 25 June 2026
Definition of lurched
Verb
  • Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled.
    — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
  • Sunny Side of the Doc may have wobbled after its 36th edition.
    — Matthew Carey, Deadline, 10 June 2026
Definition of wobbled
Verb
  • The confirmation that Batula and Wilson were dating shook the Bravoverse to its core, as that relationship broke some other long-standing friendships.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 8 July 2026
  • The sound of fighter jets on military flyovers shook the nation’s capital.
    — Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
Definition of shook
Verb
  • The deaths of three people in a boat crash on Lake Pepin over the weekend have rocked the small town situated in southeastern Minnesota on the Mississippi River.
    — Ashley Grams, CBS News, 13 July 2026
  • Screen quality is often where budget laptops stumble, but Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook Plus bucks the trend to deliver a stellar OLED display that rocked our world.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 13 July 2026
Definition of rocked
Verb
  • The way the stadium shuddered with noise.
    — Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 7 May 2026
  • At least the elevator still creaked and shuddered, as in the old days, finally trembling open on the eighth floor.
    — Rick Bragg, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026
Definition of shuddered

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totter
tottered
tottering
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Cite this Entry

“Tottered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tottered. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on tottered

Nglish: Translation of tottered for Spanish Speakers

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