1
as in rough
marked by a series of sharp quick motions
made jerky progress walking with the new crutches
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stupid
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
he's acting jerky just to get people's attention
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of jerky
My hand wandered into Armstrong's face during the lift and my motions felt jerky.
—
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 9 Nov. 2025
The contrast between the camera’s jerky motion and the languid, slow movements of the film’s subjects is striking.
—Gazelle Mba, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2025
Her jerky, spastic motions draw concerned looks from others at the event, ultimately losing her a lot of respect from those who attended the party.
—Sara Belcher, People.com, 6 May 2025
Unlike traditional robots that often move with jerky or stiff motions, Iron walks steadily and can manipulate objects with precision thanks to its human-like hands.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for jerky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerky
Adjective
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The Heat’s rough night began with a disastrous start, trailing 36-12 just 10 minutes into the contest.—
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Marty’s face prominently features a scar on his cheekbone and additional scarring under his chin, suggesting a rough life.—
Adjective
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In tribute to Michael Keane’s hair-pulling on Wednesday, Cerys Jones picked through the stupidest dismissals in Premier League history.—
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To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
Adjective
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Future work will focus on integrating snow-deposition modeling with PV yield simulations to more accurately predict energy losses and on expanding analyses to more complex, uneven alpine terrain.—
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The Trojans' uneven season hasn't exactly helped slow rumors either.—
Adjective
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To say the road to the Super Bowl goes through Jacksonville sounds silly in the NFL’s grand scheme, but for a talented and decorated Bills group that never has won there, that’s the first stop on the quest.—
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Citing the Monroe Doctrine is silly.—
Adjective
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The star of her beauty look is definitely her asymmetrical, choppy bangs.—
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Living Proof’s shampoo gives hair the same effect as a texturizing sea salt spray, paving the way for a lightweight, choppy styler like clay or fiber.—
Adjective
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To do a lot less foolish, thoughtless, stupid, idiotic things.—
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No one should be defending activists who engage in the most foolish and dangerous actions!—
Adjective
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Or why roads and other critical infrastructure projects now take untold years and insane amounts of money to complete, and by the time they are finally opened are already rendered all but obsolete?—
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In this abjectly insane political environment that Minnesotans have created for themselves, the federal agent has about as much chance of a fair trial as the Vikings have of winning this year’s Super Bowl, which is to say, none.—
Adjective
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And everyone is mad at Andrew—though this one feels like a rumor and more reality.—
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He’s been thrown straight into a mad month, in which Chelsea have Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Champions League fixtures.—
Cite this Entry
“Jerky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerky. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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