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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.

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