What does "sputter" mean?
Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles.
Sputter
/ˈspʌtɚ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles.
- Grammar: sputter is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: assibilate, assibilation, barrage, beat.
- Useful contrasts: articulate clearly, eloquence, fluency.
- Usage evidence: They can't help but sputter excuses for their sorry behavior.
How to use "sputter"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sputter" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sputter" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sputter" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sputter" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sputter" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "assibilate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sputter", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Moist matter thrown out in small detached particles. countable, uncountable
- 2 an utterance (of words) with spitting sounds (as in rage) wordnet
- 3 Confused and hasty speech. countable, uncountable
- 4 the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively wordnet
Verb
- 1 To emit saliva or spit from the mouth in small, scattered portions, as in rapid speaking. intransitive
"The child [...] kicked, and crowed, and sputtered, when his mother took him, and put up his little fingers to clutch her hair, and was to her as a young god upon the earth. Nothing in the world had ever been created so beautiful, so joyous, so satisfactory, so divine!"
- 2 spit up in an explosive manner wordnet
- 3 To speak so rapidly as to emit saliva; to utter words hastily and indistinctly, with a spluttering sound, as in rage. ambitransitive
"They could neither of them speak their rage, and so fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples."
- 4 cause to undergo a process in which atoms are removed wordnet
- 5 To throw out anything, as little jets of steam, with a noise like that made by one sputtering. ambitransitive
"Like the green wood [...] sputtering in the flame."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 utter with a spitting sound, as if in a rage wordnet
- 7 To cause surface atoms or electrons of a solid to be ejected by bombarding it with heavy atoms or ions. intransitive
- 8 climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling wordnet
- 9 To coat the surface of an object by sputtering. transitive
- 10 make an explosive sound wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"They can't help but sputter excuses for their sorry behavior."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sputter"?
Common synonyms include: assibilate, assibilation, barrage, beat, beat a ruffle, beat a tattoo.
How do you use "sputter" in a sentence?
They can't help but sputter excuses for their sorry behavior.
How do you pronounce "sputter"?
Pronounced /ˈspʌtɚ/.
Etymology
Probably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.