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

Relevance
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 Like a lot of us who tottered into consciousness in the second half of the 20th century, Les Claypool grew up with cartoons from the family television beaming into his retinas. — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026 Outside, a gull tottered to the window and tapped its beak against the glass. — Literary Hub, 13 July 2026 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
  • Cam Johnson staggered with the bench unit on Wednesday instead.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The path to Democratic control is steeper in the Senate, where elections are staggered.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of staggered
Verb
  • When that reboot faltered, climaxing in a nightmarish season-14 finale, RHONY got another, softer reboot in the form of all but three cast members being fired.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Initially, local and state leaders considered a relocation plan for some homes and businesses that would get people out of harm’s way, but the project faltered.
    — Cengiz Yar, ProPublica, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • The insurrection drew immediate and obvious parallels to the United States, which, during much of the past decade, has lurched alongside Brazil through a strange hall of mirrors.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026
  • And there was a frenzy as one man, grimacing and sweating, lurched along pulling a truck with a rope.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of lurched
Verb
  • Significantly, Violini saw that even when these brushstrokes wobbled, the entire grouping of strokes wobbled in precisely the same way.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 5 Nov. 2026
  • In IconArrows pointing outwards As the chart shows, AI has wobbled relative to the rest of the market during this uptrend before reasserting itself.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of wobbled
Verb
  • Nvidia’s stock already took a beating from a wider reversal in chip stocks as US voters’ protests against data centers shook confidence in the market’s AI trade.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Nacua shook off a couple of drops to make big plays, especially on critical fourth downs and on a seven-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of shook
Verb
  • The Strokes rocked Saturday Night Live with two new songs and a surprise appearance by Walton Goggins.
    — Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Explosions rocked the city as Russia fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles, several of which hit and damaged the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of rocked
Verb
  • Curhan on Tuesday was asked about his favorite block from that day — that 19-16 win over the Packers that is setting up to feel eerily similar to the one on Thursday night — and shuddered a smile.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Conservatives shuddered to think how close the country had come to permanent entangling alliances.
    — Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of shuddered

Browse Nearby Words

totter
tottered
tottering
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tottered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tottered. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of boilerplate

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All