Dictionary

sputtery en · ADJ

Etymology

From sputter + -y.

Meanings

1. prone to sputter
   • On _____ Is an Apparition (Rossbin), the new album by his trio Blue Collar, he uses puckered curlicues, vocalizations distorted by the horn's tubing, sputtery stammers, quiet half-valved passages that turn his sound into a fluid whisper, and even some clear, straightforward long tones. 2004 October 15, Mark Athitakis, Monica Kendrick, Peter Margasak, Bob Mehr, “The Treatment”, in Chicago Reader:
   • It is but a gesture; I expect no coherent words from your clogged and sputtery pen; but while I am sufficiently like yourself to deceive the public into thinking you have written what they read, I am not yet great enough scoundrel to do so without your visiting the scene of your presumed labors. 1927-1937, Ward Moore, Greener Than You Think:

Forms