1
as in to falter
to swing unsteadily back and forth or from side to side
he nervously teetered at the edge of the pool before finally diving in
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to stagger
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 to hesitate
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
was teetering on the brink of making a decision about college
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of teeter
The Broncos teetered on the edge of the field after losing the conference championship to Colorado State on Saturday.
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Tess Demeyer, The Athletic, 17 Mar. 2025
Many are still locks to make the NCAA field Sunday, but others are teetering on the bubble and a couple may need to win their league tournaments just to qualify.
—Dave Skretta, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2025
And while this production is an incredible blast, teetering on farce, Ostermeier and co-adaptor Duncan Macmillan (People, Places & Things) actually ramp up the duality.
—Demetrios Matheou, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2025
The threat of a shutdown has loomed as the American economy is teetering toward a recession and as Trump administration has made significant cuts to the federal workforce and frozen spending without Congress' approval.
—Riley Beggin, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for teeter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for teeter
Verb
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The New York Yankees are reeling from injuries but still figure to be a tough opponent, and the Baltimore Orioles, coming off a strong regular season last year, still have something to prove after faltering in the playoffs.—
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Falling sales indicate that the company's financial health is fundamentally faltering as competitors are surging, particularly rival BYD.—
Verb
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Payments are staggered based on recipients’ birthdays, with those born in the first 10 days of a month receiving their checks on the second Wednesday, and so on.—
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And 20 of the 40 seats in the California State Senate (which has four-year terms) will also be contested, as Senate seats are staggered with half up for election every two years.—
Verb
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Yet, the didn't appear to be the case for Colton, who hesitated to answer before last week's episode concluded.—
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Touching on directing and managing the top teams at Nudie Jeans, Levin doesn’t hesitate.—
Verb
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Without Lillard, any remaining championship hopes—already wobbling like a Jenga tower missing its foundation—have officially crumbled.—
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The scene that draws the biggest laughs from the audience features a bit of old school slapstick comedy as Cher attempts to make a clumsy romantic pass at her classmate Christian in her bedroom, falling off the bed and wobbling across the stage in heels that are far too high.—
Verb
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But the ruling did little to herald any political stability in the country, which has lurched from crisis to crisis.—
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For the last six weeks, Americans have been yanked and ghosted, lurched and launched with a merciless urgency.—
Verb
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Veneno, ever the anti-hero and unreliable narrator, vacillates between her self-serving and diabolical impulses throughout the arc of her character.—
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Trump vacillated about federal funding for the Kennedy Center during his first administration, variously defending and criticizing federal funding for it.—
Verb
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Needless to say, those of us who remember 1987 are trembling, and were expecting a frightful jobs report.—
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Historians would be called in to provide context, and every social-media app would be trembling with outrage.—
Verb
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The result would be that incumbents would lag, populists would surge, and democratic institutions would totter.—
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The country’s economy is tottering and reliant on IMF bailouts, while the powerful military is entrenched in every aspect of life, according to its critics.—
Cite this Entry
“Teeter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/teeter. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
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