English edit

Etymology edit

sputter +‎ -y

Adjective edit

sputtery (comparative more sputtery, superlative most sputtery)

  1. prone to sputter
    • 1927-1937, Ward Moore, Greener Than You Think[1]:
      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.
    • 2004 October 15, Mark Athitakis, Monica Kendrick, Peter Margasak, Bob Mehr, “The Treatment”, in Chicago Reader[2]:
      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.