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
  • But only weeks into his first season, as the Jets staggered to a 3-14 record, the team traded two of its best defensive players in cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The screening times were staggered, allowing Pawlikowski to hurry from one place to the next and introduce his film.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of stagger
Verb
  • Current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has faced intense scrutiny as the state’s insurance market has faltered and has pushed through a series of changes in recent years to try and stabilize it.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Lucy’s constant sense of invention sometimes falters under the album’s new, megawatt spotlight, lacking the enticing mystery that gives their best music its power.
    — H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of falter
Verb
  • Sometimes the wagon will lurch forward on that initial pull before settling into your walking rhythm.
    — Thomas Ricker, The Verge, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The alternative is a region that lurches from crisis to crisis, and from one extreme to another.
    — DAN RESTREPO, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 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
  • The event, televised by dozens of channels across Serbia, capped a week of Vucic touring towns and villages in an apparent bid to shore up his popularity that's been shaken after almost two years of sustained anti-government protests.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Bottle tops popped, can tabs cracked, and cocktail shakers shook all day Thursday at the Aftershock music festival at Sacramento’s Discovery Park.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of shake
Verb
  • Keep your bat on your shoulder and be ready to swing if Apple shares wobble ahead of this month’s foldable iPhone release, Jim Cramer said Thursday.
    — Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2026
  • If the fan still wobbles, a ceiling-fan balancing kit may help.
    — Tricia Goss, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 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 10 Oct. 2026.

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