staggered

[ stag-erd ]

adjective

1. arranged in a series of alternating or continually overlapping intervals of time:

   Board members serve staggered four-year terms, with new directors replacing outgoing ones each year.

2. arranged so as to alternate on either side of a center:

   A circular base approximately 2 meters in diameter is placed atop a couple of staggered layers of brick to allow for aeration from below.

3. scheduled or ordered in gradual stages; phased:

   Microsoft has confirmed that the new update will be a staggered release.

4. rendered helpless with astonishment; shocked:

   Shakespeare’s King Lear questions everything we know, posing to our staggered imaginations the possibility that the cosmos is immoral, even malevolent.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of stagger.

Other Words From

• un·stag·gered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of staggered¹

stagger ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

The play is double trouble, with George flying around a stagger screen and Leonard jostling for a snug position down on the left block.

From FiveThirtyEight

He had a drunken stagger and slurred speech, so putting two and two together, I figured security had eighty-sixed him.

From Ozy

His success later in the afternoon has staggered a nation and sent two families reeling from heartache that never diminishes.

From The Daily Beast

Kitty staggered around the corner to the rear of her building, trying to make it home.

From The Daily Beast

I was not prepared for the staggered, ruthless falling apart of one of the people I love most in the world.

From The Daily Beast

Edwards (who was governor for a total of sixteen, staggered years from 1972 to 1996) was long-dogged by charges of corruption.

From The Daily Beast

Sid was the only one who laughed; staggered around, holding his gut.

From The Daily Beast

He staggered along with much difficulty and managed to complete half of it by Christmas.

From Project Gutenberg

The drunken Man staggered to his feet, and hiccupped vehemently in the face of the assembled Gods.

From Project Gutenberg

In this case, the holes in the tracker bar are made smaller than usual and they are staggered--or arranged in two rows.

From Project Gutenberg

Black Hood fell back from the door, staggered by his first contact with that hissing gray hell.

From Project Gutenberg

As she turned the corner, a lame child in a calico dress and torn hood staggered past her bent with the weight of a heavy basket.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• astonished
• awed
• baffled
• befuddled
• dazed
• mystified
• perplexed
• puzzled
• rattled
• shocked
• startled
• stunned
• surprised