rickety

[ rik-i-tee ]

adjective

, rick·et·i·er, rick·et·i·est.

1. likely to fall or collapse; shaky:

   a rickety chair.

2. feeble in the joints; tottering; infirm:

   a rickety old man.

   Synonyms: wobbly, unsteady, frail, decrepit

3. old, dilapidated, or in disrepair.
4. irregular, as motion or action.
5. affected with or having rickets.
6. relating to or of the nature of rickets.

rickety

/ ˈrɪkɪtɪ /

adjective

1. (of a structure, piece of furniture, etc) likely to collapse or break; shaky
2. feeble with age or illness; infirm
3. relating to, resembling, or afflicted with rickets

Derived Forms

• ˈricketiness, noun

Other Words From

• rick·et·i·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of rickety¹

First recorded in 1675–85; ricket(s) + -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of rickety¹

C17: from rickets

Example Sentences

They were called “boat people,” crowding into rickety vessels, fleeing relentless poverty and the dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s also hilarious that this attempt at stabilizing its rickety notions of amateurism will force schools to become even more like businesses.

From Washington Post

From rickety old strap-on blades to state-of-the-art high-performance skates, the range of options fits, and purposes are pretty vast.

From Popular-Science

The pioneers, rolling in rickety wagons across the prairie with all of their earthly possessions, headed for a better life.

From Vox

The rickety elevator was a bit scary, making the tiny top floor apartment in Rome’s Monti neighborhood more of a sixth-floor walkup.

From Fortune

She looks at you and then points to a rickety wooden boat about twenty-five meters from where you stand.

From The Daily Beast

There were taxis, called “hackneys,” which were rickety stagecoaches cast off by the rich and repurposed as transport for hire.

From The Daily Beast

Ray gave Jay a shell, then stepped onto a small, rickety carousel in the comer of the churchyard and loaded up.

From The Daily Beast

The going rate for life jackets on board the dangerously rickety vessels tops $200, whether for men, women or children.

From The Daily Beast

"Yeah, all right," he mutters, then follows his brothers out of the room, down a rickety flight of stairs and into the crucible.

From The Daily Beast

In the aperture of the window, amid piles of paper, stood a rickety old table, covered with dust.

From Project Gutenberg

So saying the lively urchin grasped his new friend by the hand and led him by a rickety staircase to the “rookeries” above.

From Project Gutenberg

This problem was solved by a native coming along driving a raw-boned horse before a rickety wagon.

From Project Gutenberg

He could hardly walk up the rickety front steps of the old tumble-down house, and his thirteen-year-old son had to help him.

From Project Gutenberg

On one side loomed a huge tank, to the brink of which a rickety wooden ladder invited the explorer to ascend.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• broken
• decrepit
• derelict
• dilapidated
• flimsy
• ramshackle
• shaky
• wobbly