stagger
Walk off balance
Stagger captures the idea of unsteady, lurching movement—the way someone walks when drunk, injured, or overwhelmed.
He staggered out of the bar at closing time.
By extension, if news or a revelation staggers you, it throws you off balance mentally.
The verb also means to arrange things in an alternating or overlapping pattern: staggered work shifts, staggered seating.
As a noun, stagger refers to an unsteady gait or, in the plural staggers, a disease affecting livestock that causes them to walk erratically.
Abrupt unsteady movement
- totterMove unsteadily, nearly falling
- swayRock back and forth
- teeterSway without stability
- wobbleUnsteady side-to-side motion
stumble · falter · reel · stumbling · weave · careen · pitch · rock
Impaired by alcohol
- inebriatedIntoxicated by alcohol
- tipsyMildly intoxicated
- woozyDizzy and confused
- hammeredSeverely intoxicated or pounded
plastered · smashed · sloshed · loaded · blitzed · legless · tanked · sotted
Compensate by opposing force
- alternateOccur in succession
- overlapPartial coincidence of coverage
- phaseDistinct period in sequence
- rotateTurn about an axis
distribute · space · sequence · interval · scheduling · shifts · timing · cascade
lurch
Abrupt unsteady movement
wobble · stumble · falter · reel · stumbling · weave · careen · pitch · rock · flounder
drunk
Impaired by alcohol
- inebriatedIntoxicated by alcohol
- tipsyMildly intoxicated
- woozyDizzy and confused
hammered · plastered · smashed · sloshed · loaded · blitzed · legless · tanked · sotted · besotted
offset
Compensate by opposing force
rotate · distribute · space · sequence · interval · scheduling · shifts · timing · cascade · echelon
astonish
Shock with wonder
flabbergast · bewilder · awe · gobsmack · nonplus · floor · blow away · take aback · boggle · startle
stunned
Shocked into speechlessness
overwhelm · floored · rocked · shaken · dazed · bowled over · blindsided · jarred · jolted · thrown
- clumsinessclumsiness, clumsy, awkwardness, fumble, stumble
- gait problemslimp, limping, hobble, hobbling, shuffle
- track and fieldtrack and field, sprinters, sprinter, sprinting, sprint
- game movesmove, dodge, play, pass, block
- shock reactionsgasp, wide eyes, jaw drop, shocked face, open mouth
- vivid verbsshimmer, sparkle, gleam, glisten, glitter
staggersynchronize
Align timing precisely
align · coordinate · coincide · unify · regularize
- staggered startOffset initial positions
- staggered hoursVaried start and end times
- staggered stanceFeet placed front-to-back
- staggered formationNon-linear parallel positioning
staggering, staggered, staggers, staggeringly, staggerer, unstaggered