sputter
Americanverb (used without object)
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to make explosive popping or sizzling sounds.
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to emit particles, sparks, etc., forcibly or explosively, especially accompanied by sputtering sounds.
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to eject particles of saliva, food, etc., from the mouth in a light spray, as when speaking angrily or excitedly.
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to utter or spit out words or sounds explosively or incoherently, as when angry or flustered.
verb (used with object)
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to emit (anything) forcibly and in small particles, as if by spitting.
The fire sputtered cinders.
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to eject (saliva, food, etc.) in small particles explosively and involuntarily, as in excitement.
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to utter explosively and incoherently.
noun
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the act or sound of sputtering.
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explosive, incoherent utterance.
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matter ejected in sputtering.
verb
noun
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the process or noise of sputtering
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incoherent stammering speech
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something that is ejected while sputtering
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sputtersimple
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sputterssimple
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have sputteredperfect
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has sputteredperfect
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am sputteringprogressive
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are sputteringprogressive
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is sputteringprogressive
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have been sputteringperfect progressive
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has been sputteringperfect progressive
Past
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sputteredsimple
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had sputteredperfect
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was sputteringprogressive
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were sputteringprogressive
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had been sputteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sputter
1590–1600; sput- (variant of spout ) + -er 6; cognate with Dutch sputteren
Explanation
When someone (or something) makes a soft, fast popping sound, they sputter. If you expect to win first prize in a poetry contest but don't, you might sputter, "But...but..." When you sputter, you're often angry, surprised, or otherwise at a loss for words. You may sputter incoherent sounds, or short syllables. When you start up your dirt bike, its engine sputters too, with muted exploding sounds. This word is also a noun: "The sputter from out on the lake told me he got the old motorboat going." In physics, to sputter is to send high-energy particles onto a material, dislodging tiny particles from its surface.
Vocabulary lists containing sputter
Excerpt from "Bad Boy"
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I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916
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I Survived the Galveston Hurricane, 1900
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the move could also be Beijing issuing a warning to investors looking to put their capital elsewhere as the country’s economy continues to sputter.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
And when they do, the room will sputter, “Wait, how did this not get a single Oscar nomination?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
The job market continues to sputter even as cost and price pressures persist, a Federal Reserve report found, underscoring the competing risks central bank officials will have to weigh at a key meeting next month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
The series follows LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani to Hollywood — or “Ollywoo,” per his obstructed view of the Hollywood sign — where his acting career will sputter out of and into life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
I walked out into the hall just in time to hear my father’s old Chevy Nova sputter loudly to life.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Thankfully, there are a few moments when the album sputters into life.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
When a guard tells them they just beat the clock, the nervous Ray-Ray sputters, “Oh we’re not together—right, Sal?. . . Um, I meant sir, not Sal—right, Sal?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Small-cap companies tend to have weaker balance sheets, higher debt loads and can become more vulnerable to defaults than major corporations if the economy sputters.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026
A street market in a Buenos Aires working-class neighborhood bustles with desperate Argentines who have taken to hawking their belongings to make ends meet as the economy sputters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2025
Tiny sputters and coughs a bit and then croaks, "My throat. So raw."
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
Canada's economy had sputtered over the past year, as Trump's tariffs squeezed key sectors like auto-making, forced job losses and sent jitters across the business community.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
The only way that would change is if the economy sputtered and layoffs begin to surge, analysts say.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
Throughout the year, several high-profile OpenAI commitments have sputtered, thanks to the company’s newfound frugality as well as an increasing sense of dissatisfaction from its business pals.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
By contrast, Sondheim was consistently accessible and encouraging to younger composers and lyricists even as his own artistic output sputtered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
“And what’s even worse than the money is the shame you brought on us by compromising your . . .” He sputtered, unable to say the words.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
However, sputtering domestic demand has stoked fears of a more entrenched downturn later this year, raising hopes for more policy easing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
China’s economy has been sputtering for a years, with consumers especially reluctant to spend, hurting some of those companies.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
Still, the oil market is sputtering, and prices are high, but not stratospheric — yet, said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, an energy-market consulting firm.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
But what’s extra notable about the sputtering tech partnerships of the 2020s is how baldly they smack of desperation.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
Crackling sounds and sputtering voices were all we heard for what seemed like an hour.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
