totter

verb

ˈtä-tər How to pronounce totter (audio)
Definition of totternext
1
as in to stagger
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 to falter
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 totter Now, even that tiny effort is tottering. — Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026 Women often totter along a delicate line between beauty and torture, femininity and the bondage of expectation. — Jane Wooldridge, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025 But The Gilded Age doesn’t do pure villains with its main cast, and Oscar totters between failson and tragic figure, the closeted heir of the Van Rhijn family dragged to hell and back after being defrauded of his mother’s fortune. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025 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 See All Example Sentences for totter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totter
  1. stagger
  2. falter
  3. lurch
  4. tremble
  5. shake
  6. wobble
Verb
  • Spoelstra staggered Adebayo and Antetokounmpo’s minutes with these bench lineups.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026
  • However, data from Agence France Tresor shows that the average maturity of French debt stands at roughly 8 years and 158 days, with debt redemptions relatively well staggered.
    — , CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of stagger
Verb
  • The Giants hope the more mobile McCarthy can spark a struggling running game that has faltered with Winston at quarterback.
    — Ryan Canfield OutKick, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Analysts noted that the brand was bucking trends among Chinese consumers, where most luxury brands have been faltering this quarter.
    — Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of falter
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
  • Hop on the #6 double-decker from Central to Stanley beach, which lurches around Hong Kong Island's mountainous southern South China Sea coast (sit upstairs on the right-hand side).
    — Lee Cobaj, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of lurch
Verb
  • But now, the occupation seems to tremble before Palestinian children holding paper and string.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Those afflicted would tremble and jerk around, lose the ability to stand or swallow, and, after many months of slow suffering, die.
    — David Remnick, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of tremble
Verb
  • Sitake winds up practice with a prayer and insists that the defense and offense shake hands after going at one another all day.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Mothers who beat, shook, shot, drowned, strangled, and stabbed their babies.
    — Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of shake
Verb
  • Financial markets slumped on Friday as investors bailed on technology stocks amid concerns that companies exposed to artificial intelligence are starting to wobble.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Some investors are already treating Apple as a hedge against the other AI companies dominating the Nasdaq; if those companies wobble, Apple could be the big stock-market winner.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of wobble

Browse Nearby Words

totted (up)
totter
tottered
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Totter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totter. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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