as in muttering
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as in chattering
to speak rapidly, inarticulately, and usually unintelligibly
she was so shocked that, for a moment, all she could do was sputter
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Recent Examples of sputtering
David Beaulieu, The Spruce, 1 Feb. 2026
Wait for the sputtering sound to subside.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 24 Jan. 2026
The climate alarm machine—powered by the twin engines of moral panic and groupthink homogeneity—is sputtering.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
Flat out, when the Bills’ offense was sputtering, the defense stole the game right from the Steelers’ grasp.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025
Longi team applied a first tin oxide (SnOx) buffer layer to protect the perovskite and transport layers during the transparent conducting oxide sputtering process, performed via atomic layer deposition (ALD).
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 27 Nov. 2025
Out of the ashes of a sputtering career as a music journalist came this new path as a screenwriter.
—Cameron Crowe, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
Ingberg, 23, drove the sputtering car to Akeley, dropped it off at a mechanic and hopped in Hansen’s squad car for a ride back to his home in Wadena.
—Alex Haddon, Twin Cities, 13 Oct. 2025
Then Waller held forth on the economy and the sputtering labor market.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
The only constant is Mount Etna, looming off to one side, at times sputtering out smoke, ash, and short bursts of lava.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
After sputtering at the beginning of 2026, the economy grew rapidly in the middle two quarters and is on pace to accelerate at a 3% pace in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary data from the Atlanta Fed.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 3 Jan. 2026
The fact that Stockton had to keep doing that was a reflection of the offense around him sputtering.
—Seth Emerson, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
The offense was sputtering more often than not for most of the Hurricanes’ first-round College Football Playoff matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies, a combination of swirling wind and a stout defense making things difficult.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
As the holiday season approaches, Americans dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is sputtering, a new AP-NORC poll finds.
—Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025
The Niners’ defense is reeling, and the offense is sputtering.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
In August, a single-engine Piper PA-28 crash landed on southbound Interstate 805 in Sorrento Valley after the pilot noticed the engine was sputtering and losing power.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Some signs that the carburetor is clogged on a snow blower are starting then dying a few seconds afterward, jerking, sputtering noises, and black smoke emitting from the exhaust.
—David Beaulieu, The Spruce, 1 Feb. 2026
Wait for the sputtering sound to subside.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 24 Jan. 2026
The climate alarm machine—powered by the twin engines of moral panic and groupthink homogeneity—is sputtering.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025
Flat out, when the Bills’ offense was sputtering, the defense stole the game right from the Steelers’ grasp.
—Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2025
Longi team applied a first tin oxide (SnOx) buffer layer to protect the perovskite and transport layers during the transparent conducting oxide sputtering process, performed via atomic layer deposition (ALD).
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 27 Nov. 2025
Out of the ashes of a sputtering career as a music journalist came this new path as a screenwriter.
—Cameron Crowe, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
Ingberg, 23, drove the sputtering car to Akeley, dropped it off at a mechanic and hopped in Hansen’s squad car for a ride back to his home in Wadena.
—Alex Haddon, Twin Cities, 13 Oct. 2025
Then Waller held forth on the economy and the sputtering labor market.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
When the time came for Alan Cumming to cease deliberations, Michael was reduced to sputtering epithets in random sequences.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
The only constant is Mount Etna, looming off to one side, at times sputtering out smoke, ash, and short bursts of lava.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Jan. 2026
After sputtering at the beginning of 2026, the economy grew rapidly in the middle two quarters and is on pace to accelerate at a 3% pace in the fourth quarter, according to preliminary data from the Atlanta Fed.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 3 Jan. 2026
The fact that Stockton had to keep doing that was a reflection of the offense around him sputtering.
—Seth Emerson, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2026
The offense was sputtering more often than not for most of the Hurricanes’ first-round College Football Playoff matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies, a combination of swirling wind and a stout defense making things difficult.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
As the holiday season approaches, Americans dipping into savings, scouring for bargains and feeling like the overall economy is sputtering, a new AP-NORC poll finds.
—Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025
The Niners’ defense is reeling, and the offense is sputtering.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
In August, a single-engine Piper PA-28 crash landed on southbound Interstate 805 in Sorrento Valley after the pilot noticed the engine was sputtering and losing power.
—Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sputtering
Verb
-
In his masterful first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, ghouls and spirits keep chattering away, as if at a corner barbershop, while Abraham Lincoln mourns his dead 11-year-old son, Willie.—
Pico Iyer,
Air Mail,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Voices chattering in Yiddish mingle with clucking chickens, crowing roosters and accordion music drifting through a bustling outdoor market.—
Leslie Katz,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Letter writer kept cancer diagnosis private to avoid people’s reactions, but that plan is faltering as illness progresses.—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
8 Feb. 2026
-
As of Thursday, other digital assets like ether and solana were also down 24% and 26% for the week to date, respectively — a sign investors’ confidence in the entire crypto market is faltering.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Levy took out a laptop and began shouting first names.—
Jane Bua,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Just a few months ago, a far‑right group disrupted the early morning prayer services of the NSU Muslim Student Association on Hollywood Beach, shouting hateful anti-Muslim slurs.—
Adam Abutaa,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But neither is drooling on your neighbor’s shoulder.—
Adam Cheung,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Feb. 2026
-
This indulgent treat already has fans drooling—and many Costco members have been running to their local bakeries to see if the Cookie Bar Cake is still in stock.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Aniston opened up about the relationship while chatting to Elle back in November.—
Meg Walters,
InStyle,
15 Feb. 2026
-
So far, he’s been spotted draped in a full-length, white fluffy coat and fire engine-red hat and gloves, watching the women’s downhill race, and casually chatting with onlookers at the curling mixed doubles, adorned in a zip-jacket emblazoned with Team USA players’ faces.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The stop-motion digital series about a jolly, mumbling, pint-size cook serves up a big slice of serotonin.—
Sonal Dutt,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In the latest violence rattling the fragile ceasefire, medics said two men were killed by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis, in an area adjacent to where the army operates.—
Nidal al-Mughrabi,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Archival footage illustrates, in pulse-pounding and nerve-rattling fashion, just how widespread calls for Rushdie’s murder were.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The film alternates between Aggressive Songs to Tell You What Emotion to Have and halting, bland narration from the first lady describing her feelings and initiatives.—
Alexandra Petri,
The Atlantic,
31 Jan. 2026
-
The storm had dropped over a foot of snow across a 1,300-mile swath from Arkansas to New England, halting traffic, canceling thousands of flights and triggering wide school closures Monday.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sputtering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sputtering. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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