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Definitions

sputter

[spuht-er] / ˈspʌt ər /
VERB
stumble
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONGEST


VERB
falter
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But shortly thereafter the rally began to sputter, as the below chart shows.

From MarketWatch May 27, 2026

Hopes had been high that the eurozone's traditional growth engine would sputter back to life in 2026 after years of stagnation, driven by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's public spending blitz.

From Barron's Apr. 22, 2026

He started Sunday with a sputter, including a double bogey on the par-three fourth and a bogey shortly after.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 12, 2026

Instead, productivity growth has all but collapsed since the pandemic, and even before then was starting to sputter.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 19, 2026

And the candle was getting shorter and shorter and whatever it was he wished for was not going to come true but just sputter out in the blue icing.

From "Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key" by Jack Gantos

Thankfully, there are a few moments when the album sputters into life.

From BBC Jul. 18, 2026

When a guard tells them they just beat the clock, the nervous Ray-Ray sputters, “Oh we’re not together—right, Sal?. . . Um, I meant sir, not Sal—right, Sal?”

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 31, 2026

Small-cap companies tend to have weaker balance sheets, higher debt loads and can become more vulnerable to defaults than major corporations if the economy sputters.

From MarketWatch Jan. 22, 2026

A street market in a Buenos Aires working-class neighborhood bustles with desperate Argentines who have taken to hawking their belongings to make ends meet as the economy sputters.

From Barron's Oct. 22, 2025

In the courtyard, the bonfire sputters and sparks in a sudden cloud of black smoke, causing those patrons closest to it to jump back, coughing.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Canada's economy had sputtered over the past year, as Trump's tariffs squeezed key sectors like auto-making, forced job losses and sent jitters across the business community.

From Barron's Jul. 15, 2026

While Hernández found contact on each of his at-bats, the rest of the team sputtered through six innings.

From Los Angeles Times May 26, 2026

A podcast company he launched with his friend Andrew Kuo sputtered.

From The Wall Street Journal May 12, 2026

The only way that would change is if the economy sputtered and layoffs begin to surge, analysts say.

From MarketWatch Apr. 3, 2026

Jinny sputtered as she turned quickly this way and that, small waves rolling past her, breaking gently against her shoulders.

From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder

However, sputtering domestic demand has stoked fears of a more entrenched downturn later this year, raising hopes for more policy easing.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 15, 2026

China’s economy has been sputtering for a years, with consumers especially reluctant to spend, hurting some of those companies.

From Barron's May 31, 2026

But he lets Magaro’s simmering fragility be a real presence: the sputtering glow of someone afraid to be the protagonist of his own story.

From Los Angeles Times May 1, 2026

Still, the oil market is sputtering, and prices are high, but not stratospheric — yet, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, an energy-market consulting firm.

From MarketWatch Apr. 30, 2026

I asked, my voice sputtering like an unused engine.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman




Vocabulary lists containing sputter


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