How to Use jerk in a Sentence

jerk

1 of 2 noun
  • He felt the jerk of the line as a fish took the bait.
  • The car started with a jerk.
  • Most of the kids are nice, but some are jerks.
  • The dead branch came loose after a few jerks.
  • That jerk can't do anything right.
  • Gave the two jerks her very best.
    — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Life is too short to work with jerks.
    — Shayne Fitz-Coy, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025
  • It is made to order, so steamed, fried, jerk, baked or brown stew.
    — Kristine M. Kierzek, Journal Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2023
  • The flip side of that is like, dang, nobody wants to work with a jerk.
    — James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022
  • The jerk chicken is rubbed in a sweet honey glaze.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Foodies can try the best of jerk cuisine and fresh seafood.
    — Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Their boss is a jerk or whatever.
    — Fortune Editors, Fortune, 6 Aug. 2025
  • The mayor didn’t add that line about not wanting to be a jerk that time.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
  • The jerk chicken is quite good, but there isn’t a lot of meat, mostly skin.
    — R29 Team, Refinery29, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Bed bugs are resilient little jerks who play the world's worst game of hide-and-seek.
    — John Tufts, The Courier-Journal, 12 June 2024
  • Dear Jay Norvell, try not to be a complete @#$&%# jerk.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 5 Apr. 2026
  • No one says, 'This guy's a jerk, that guy is that,' or anything like that.
    — Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The car struck something with a jerk and pulled up suddenly.
    — Emily Krauser, PEOPLE, 18 Jan. 2026
  • There’s been one guy who was a jerk out of the couple hundred who ordered.
    — Josh Chesler, SPIN, 1 Feb. 2023
  • If your boss is a jerk, why is everyone walking off the cliff for him/her?
    — Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Sep. 2022
  • In the metaverse, work will be rewarding, and your boss will not be a jerk.
    — Joe Queenan, WSJ, 6 Jan. 2022
  • There was no jerk when the motor kicked in, as there can be with a pedal-assist.
    — Patricia Marx, The New Yorker, 26 Dec. 2022
  • Stop Sales sent the raw chicken, cut cow foot and jerk sauce into the garbage.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Along with that jerk pork, there’s a whole chicken that leaves few techniques untried.
    — Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2024
  • Because even in a world of monsters, ghouls, and greedy jerks, the good guys still prevail.
    — Gwen Ihnat, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The 16-year-old is an a-hole at worst and a jerk at best to the 11-year-old.
    — Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2022
  • Radcliffe somehow missed the part where the child star becomes an unhinged jerk.
    — Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023
  • The jerks and the misogynists have so far been left to shape the metaverse in their own image.
    — Moira Donegan, ELLE, 14 Apr. 2023
  • Looking back, there were clues that the manager for one of her prior roles might be a jerk.
    — Tara Weiss, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2023
  • The sweet jerk chicken had a subtle sugariness to it.
    — Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025

jerk

2 of 2 verb
  • Aisha jerked and opened her eyes.
    — Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Yonatan jerked away from his phone, then looked at the names again.
    — Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Sounds like the plot of a tear-jerking movie, no?
    — David Oliver, USA Today, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Travis jerked open the door and slid on his butt down a wing that was on fire.
    — Gillian Telling, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2025
  • The plane jerked to a stop as two trucks passed just feet in front of its nose.
    — Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Don’t twist or jerk the tick, which can cause the mouth to break off in your skin.
    — Reeti Malhotra, Sacbee.com, 20 June 2026
  • Don’t twist or jerk the tick, which can cause the mouth to break off in your skin.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026
  • The camera angle jerks up to the sky.
    — Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
  • Still, no one jerked hard enough to lift the rod twenty inches.
    — Justin Nobel, Longreads, 5 Sep. 2017
  • Her eyes scanned the ground, then jerked back up toward the anchor.
    — Anna Callaghan, Outside Online, 3 Apr. 2018
  • He, too, was bowled over by the film's tear-jerking finale.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
  • But then her limbs started jerking.
    — ABC News, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Snider wore a pitch to start the frame and Mann jerked a single to right field.
    — Randy Rosetta, The Courier-Journal, 1 June 2018
  • Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin.
    — Nancy Clanton, ajc, 3 May 2019
  • Paul goes to shake her hand but jerks it back, then gives her a left-handed handshake.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Each time the strap connected with flesh, the army cot the boys clung to would jerk and heave.
    — Carol Marbin Miller, miamiherald, 10 July 2018
  • Too much, and the rider exited off the back or got jerked to the side.
    — Andrew Graybill, WSJ, 25 May 2018
  • Video of the collision shows the train jerking from side-to-side.
    — Sara Gregory, AJC.com, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The girl rose and began running with the headphones on, but the cord jerked her back.
    — Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2024
  • Do not twist or jerk the bug, to avoid causing the mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin.
    — Laura Schulte, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 30 June 2021
  • The video suddenly jerks away as the vehicle starts to move and shots can be heard.
    — Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Anybody who's had the retirement rug jerked out from him in this way is troubling.
    — Matt Zapotosky, Anchorage Daily News, 17 Mar. 2018
  • Anybody who’s had the retirement rug jerked out from him in this way is troubling.
    — Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2018
  • Be ready for the head-jerking jolt when the driver nails the throttle, even a little bit.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2019
  • Tony Fauci was not just jerking the country around.
    — David Blumenthal, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Burkett then tried to jerk away from his captors and grab a radio from a desk in the control room.
    — oregonlive, 8 Nov. 2019
  • These seizures can make person shake and jerk for up to three minutes, but recovery can take hours.
    — Patti Greco, Health.com, 9 Nov. 2021
  • Still, the climax arrives with tear-jerking catharsis all the same.
    — Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2019
  • Suddenly, the tent jerked and wobbled.
    — Dolores Brown, Outdoor Life, 17 June 2026
  • Beth stood up as if to change the station on the television, then reached up and jerked the curtain aside.
    — Tribune News Service, oregonlive.com, 22 June 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jerk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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