as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed
a jerry-rigged switch to keep the machine in operation until it can be repaired
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Recent Examples of jerry-rigged
Ali Al-Ahmed, a dissident Saudi scholar who kept in touch with Sahar, sent me a photograph of an apparatus that the sisters had jerry-rigged to distill fresh water from the sea, and one of a copper hook for catching fish and crabs.
—
Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024
Content by this author: Doomed From the Start Obamacare is a typically American concoction: a complicated program jerry-rigged to appeal to people with little faith in government.
—Kimberly J. Morgan, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024
Putin, by contrast, has jerry-rigged a rogue power while sending hundreds of thousands to their deaths in a war of choice.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
But arguably the most common and effective drones used by both sides have been simple, cheap devices whose parts are available to any consumer with an Amazon account, and jerry-rigged to carry small bombs or shells.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Jan. 2024
To create a tarmac road surface at model chicken scale the team use crushed walnuts mixed with glue and sand while a motorized device that looks like a toilet roll covered in tin foil has been jerry-rigged to create ripples on water.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 16 Dec. 2023
But the constant hither and yon of Izi abandoning Benji and then coming back gets a little tired over the long haul and feels jerry-rigged to add conflict.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
This will give you a buzz: Amid the current writers and actors strike setting Hollywood ablaze, Jeopardy! has jerry-rigged a way to move forward without its writing staff for season 40.
—Vulture, 7 Aug. 2023
Alternatively, Ukrainian technicians could have jerry-rigged a rudimentary inertial and/or GPS guidance to integrate with the missile’s pre-existing Inertial Measurement Unit tracking the missile’s speed and bearing.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 14 July 2023
Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024
Content by this author: Doomed From the Start Obamacare is a typically American concoction: a complicated program jerry-rigged to appeal to people with little faith in government.
—Kimberly J. Morgan, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024
Putin, by contrast, has jerry-rigged a rogue power while sending hundreds of thousands to their deaths in a war of choice.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2024
But arguably the most common and effective drones used by both sides have been simple, cheap devices whose parts are available to any consumer with an Amazon account, and jerry-rigged to carry small bombs or shells.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Jan. 2024
To create a tarmac road surface at model chicken scale the team use crushed walnuts mixed with glue and sand while a motorized device that looks like a toilet roll covered in tin foil has been jerry-rigged to create ripples on water.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 16 Dec. 2023
But the constant hither and yon of Izi abandoning Benji and then coming back gets a little tired over the long haul and feels jerry-rigged to add conflict.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
This will give you a buzz: Amid the current writers and actors strike setting Hollywood ablaze, Jeopardy! has jerry-rigged a way to move forward without its writing staff for season 40.
—Vulture, 7 Aug. 2023
Alternatively, Ukrainian technicians could have jerry-rigged a rudimentary inertial and/or GPS guidance to integrate with the missile’s pre-existing Inertial Measurement Unit tracking the missile’s speed and bearing.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 14 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerry-rigged
Adjective
-
The character first appears in the franchise’s original film Scream (1996) as the older brother of Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and the clumsy police deputy trying to help solve the murders in their town of Woodsboro.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
4 Mar. 2025
-
Aviles’ dismissal, for a clumsy challenge on the edge of the penalty area, seemed set to turn the game.—
Martin Rogers,
The Athletic,
22 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
But unseen, in underground pipelines that cut through vast fields of barley, flows about $5 billion annually worth of Canadian crude oil and natural gas, most of it from Alberta.—
Dee-Ann Durbin and Sally Ho,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2025
-
The United States imports crude oil from Canada, specifically the Alberta oil sands.—
Ken Silverstein,
Forbes,
2 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The Trump administration has expressed interest in other minerals like lithium, graphite, and titanium, but these are based on rough mineral estimates.—
Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
-
While New York City as a whole is safer than most other metropolises, pockets of especially rough neighborhoods are unsafe, particularly for young men.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Anti-Tesla sentiment is at an all-time high, whether expressed through rude bumper stickers and peaceful protest or vandalism and arson, in part because Musk has continually stoked tension with his far-right politics.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
7 Mar. 2025
-
At the time, Pearce called out a rude fan while performing at WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
Fox News,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
At the time, the majority of council members followed the lead of Councilmember Raul Campillo, who represents Del Cerro and said the church’s application was legally flawed.—
Jennifer Van Grove,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Feb. 2025
-
In April last year, a Bucharest court said a trial could start and ultimately decided not to start it, claiming the indictment was flawed.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
27 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to jerry-rigged
Cite this Entry
“Jerry-rigged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerry-rigged. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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