Meaning & use

jerkily

adverb·Academic

In an abrupt, uneven manner marked by sudden starts and stops rather than smooth motion.

See it in a sentence

The old projector moved jerkily as the film reel struggled to advance.

He typed jerkily on the cracked keyboard, pausing after every few letters.

A note on using this word

The correct spelling is 'jerkily'; 'jerkly' is a common misspelling that drops the middle syllable.

Words with a similar meaning

haltinglyspasmodically

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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