unsteady
Americanadjective
-
not steady or firm; unstable; shaky.
an unsteady hand.
-
fluctuating or wavering.
an unsteady flame; unsteady prices.
- Synonyms:
- vacillating
-
irregular or uneven.
an unsteady development.
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
not securely fixed
an unsteady foothold
-
(of behaviour, etc) lacking constancy; erratic
-
without regularity
an unsteady rhythm
-
(of a manner of walking, etc) precarious, staggering, as from intoxication
verb
Synonym Usage
See unsettled.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unsteady
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 37-year-old got back to his feet but looked unsteady and referee Mike Beltran waved off the contest as he stumbled.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
“I think it’s a really good question,” said George Schultze, founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management, when asked about the threat that an increasingly unsteady bond market might pose to stocks.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
Inner-ear problems can also affect balance, and if someone is feeling dizzy or unsteady, they are likely to walk slower.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
In order to obtain a warrant to obtain a blood draw, the officer “falsely claimed that Senator Cervantes had an unsteady gait, slurred speech, and an appearance of drowsiness,” the complaint alleges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
He grabbed his sword and got to his feet, unsteady, but not unsteady enough for Anya's taste.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
The challenge will be not getting unsteadied by meticulously curated opposing pitching plans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
I breathed out, took my foot off the gas, and the car quivered, unsteadied.
From The Verge ● Feb. 9, 2016
At the same time, he knows what it’s like to be unsteadied by professional disappointment – and, worse, to be toppled, outright, by personal tragedy.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 18, 2015
The room seems unsteadied by von Storch's ambition.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2010
It having become nearly calm, she lay thrashing aimlessly in the swell, unsteadied by the canvas.
From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan
Volckmer has said the subheading was kept off the cover “as a surprise” – making it the first of many unsteadying gear shifts in a monologue that sets out to unsettle.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2020
It is deeply unsteadying to ponder the possibility that Riefenstahl might have been both a considerable artist and a considerable Nazi.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 19, 2015
Her manner, which was not conciliatory, had, also, an unsteadying effect on him.
From The Gold Trail by Harold Bindloss
Perhaps the strain on the poor doctor’s nerves was unsteadying him by this time: he may not have seen right; but he seemed to see only one name, as if compounded from the former two.
From Devil Stories An Anthology by Various
It was not more contemptuous, nor less; but something about it was unsteadying.
From Red Fleece by Will Levington Comfort
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
