adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Lean meat cured and preserved by cutting into thin strips and air-drying in the sun. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   meat (especially beef) cut in strips and dried in the sun wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To cure and preserve (meat) by drying it, making jerky. transitive

Adjective

1. 1
   Characterized by physical jerking, or by sudden and uneven progress.

   "jerky flight"

2. 2
   Having the behavior of a jerk (unpleasant person).

   "jerky guy"

Adjective

1. 1
   having or revealing stupidity wordnet
2. 2
   marked by abrupt transitions wordnet
3. 3
   lacking a steady rhythm wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

choppyanserinearrhythmicarrhythmicaspicbarbecue

Example

More examples

"After the apocalypse, Tom and Mary sold zombie jerky from a roadside stand."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From jerk + -y.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish charqui, from Quechua charki.

Related phrases

herky-jerkyjerky upknee-jerky

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.