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
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Recent Examples of totter
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
As Joe Biden tottered and fell (literally as well as metaphorically), more than a few pundits compared him to Lear, a man who was ruined by age, pride, and the flattery of sycophants.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for totter
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
As Joe Biden tottered and fell (literally as well as metaphorically), more than a few pundits compared him to Lear, a man who was ruined by age, pride, and the flattery of sycophants.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for totter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totter
Verb
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Space the shrubs a little further apart, then stagger them so the back row screens your view.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
16 May 2026
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The Chiefs staggered throughout the campaign and looked like a husk of their usual, dominant selves.—
Tim Graham,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
Verb
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One risk is that the AI might falter and fail to detect that a person has an actual mental health condition that warrants attention.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
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With most tropical reefs expected to face conditions like the Gulf’s by 2100—and already faltering under increasingly frequent marine heat waves—that makes the Gulf’s coral a source of valuable genetic information about resilience that could have implications for the rest of the world’s reefs.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Instead of thoughtful, adaptive action, characters lurch between hesitation and reckless decisions, with catastrophic results.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2026
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So between those two things, the balance of gerrymanders has lurched pretty abruptly toward the right.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Their legs trembled beneath them, their hands and heads shook with anxiety, and at times Snow, in tears, curled into the arms of friends and loved ones.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
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Logic, curated by decades of precedent, suggested the 22-year-old might tremble at the growl of the aggressive, experienced Wolves.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
9 May 2026
Verb
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Built from the bones of a 12th-century hostelry, its hub is a vast, glamorous lounge bar complete with mixologists shaking modern-day mocktails under the ancient beams.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 May 2026
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Saleh shook off his 0-for-3 day leading up to the pivotal at-bat and was ready to pounce.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
22 May 2026
Verb
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Your calm precision can keep the whole plan from wobbling.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
17 May 2026
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The small robots wobble through the parks with lifelike movements, reacting to guests and showing emotion through body language rather than speech.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Totter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totter. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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