jerry-rigged

adjective

ˈjer-ē-ˌrigd How to pronounce jerry-rigged (audio)
Definition of jerry-riggednext
as in clumsy
hastily or roughly constructed a jerry-rigged switch to keep the machine in operation until it can be repaired

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of jerry-rigged A lot of what can and should be built are bespoke products in their own right that would otherwise have been jerry-rigged from external companies. — Naveen Zutshi, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026 Lenovo's software has also matured, so switching between games feels more like playing a game console and less like a laptop jerry-rigged into a handheld. — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025 This repurposing reflects how biological evolution is jerry-rigged, making use of what’s available. — Philip Ball, Wired News, 8 June 2025 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jerry-rigged
  1. clumsy
  2. rough
  3. rude
  4. flawed
Adjective
  • Such episodes now look like clumsy moments in a decade of dissembling.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Yirenki’s challenge on Christos Tzolis is clumsy, but well short of a first yellow card, let alone a second.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of clumsy
Adjective
  • Convincing a parent to get hearing aids can be a rough experience.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The journey back to the river camp was an arduous three-mile hike over rough terrain.
    — Jan Thacker, Outdoor Life, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of rough
Adjective
  • For instance, your colleagues may be very agreeable and kind to their boss but rude to their more junior colleagues, or the cafeteria waiter.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Totally ignoring the humanity of both worker and customer is rude, and yet both parties are interested in getting on with whatever the transaction is.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of rude
Adjective
  • Hubble launched in 1990 with a flawed mirror that required spacewalking astronauts’ dramatic intervention.
    — Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Historically, retail rankings were flawed, often missing true leaders like A&P, which dominated for decades before Sears and Walmart.
    — Jason Goldberg, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of flawed

Browse Nearby Words

jerry-built
jerry-rigged
jest
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Jerry-rigged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jerry-rigged. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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