Phrasal verb
jerk around
Definition
phrasal verb. to treat someone unfairly by being dishonest or by wasting their time.
phrasal verb. to behave toward someone in a deceptive, evasive, or uncooperative manner, often by providing conflicting information or failing to fulfill commitments.
Examples
“Stop jerking me around and tell me the truth.”
“The company kept jerking him around about the start date, so he eventually took a different job.”
“Potential investors often jerk startup founders around for months before finally declining to provide any capital.”
Examples
simple
“Stop jerking me around and tell me the truth.”
contextual
“The company kept jerking him around about the start date, so he eventually took a different job.”
complex
“Potential investors often jerk startup founders around for months before finally declining to provide any capital.”
Usage
usually takes a person as a direct object; highly informal and often expresses frustration.
Teaching tip
contrast with 'mess around' or 'lead on'; 'jerk around' specifically implies a power imbalance where one party is being treated with a lack of respect.
Pitfall
He is jerking around me.
He is jerking me around.
when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle in this phrasal verb.
Phrasal verb
Particles
around
Separability
optional
Pattern
jerk + object + around
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/jerk-around