Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

stagger

/ˈstæɡə/ noun

In Latin: vacillō, titubō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about stagger at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An unsteady uneven gait.

verb

Walk as if unable to control one's movements.
The drunken man staggered into the room
Walk with great difficulty.
He staggered along in the heavy snow
To arrange in a systematic order.
stagger the chairs in the lecture hall

Origin

From Middle English stakeren, from Old Norse stakra (“to push, stagger”). Cognate with dialectal Danish stagre.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word