saccadé
jerky
adjective sah-kah-DEH Rare
Origin: From 'saccade' (jerk, tug), origin uncertain, possibly from Old French 'saquer' (to pull).
Also means
stuttering, halting
Usage Note
Saccadé describes movement or speech that is abrupt and irregular — un mouvement saccadé (a jerky movement), une voix saccadée (a halting voice). In neuroscience, les saccades are the rapid eye movements used in reading. The feminine is saccadée.
Examples
"Le robot avançait d'un pas saccadé."
Natural Translation
The robot moved forward with a jerky step.
Related Words
Explore French by topic
FrenchNow
7 min read
FrenchNow
5 min read