creaky
AmericanOther Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of creaky
Explanation
Something that's creaky makes a groaning or scraping sound. If your front door is creaky, its hinges might need to be oiled. The sound of footsteps on a creaky wood floor, or climbing your creaky stairs, can be spooky at night. You can also describe a hoarse or high-pitched voice as creaky, and your grandfather might sigh, "Oh, these creaky old knees," when he stands up. Creaky describes the grating sound, and also the worn out or run-down nature of old things or people. It comes from creak, which is imitative — its sound suggests its meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing creaky
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 most creaky veteran played with the most aggression.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
On my last night, the Tulsa Sound showed up beyond the sanctuary’s creaky halls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
John McGinn and Donyell Malen carved through the creaky Tottenham defence with a rapid exchange of passes before Buendia lashed high into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026
I remember walking up the creaky stairs of the house to our room and feeling like I was walking somewhere with high elevation.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
But just when I thought I was going to get away, the creaky machinery of his face began to grind and a cardboard dawn of recognition was lowered, with jerks, from the dusty proscenium.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
But as we get further into this decade and the economy looks ever creakier, the stakes of these boom-and-busts are just as pressing as the perils that lead companies to take them on.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
Morgan always designed his drama to be a "love letter" to the recently departed monarch, and it plays as such, even in these creakier new episodes.
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2022
Still debonair if a bit creakier, Pépin turns 87 in December.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2022
The brutality of London’s tale has been softened, as have some of the creakier cultural attitudes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2020
Once the backbone of a proud NFL franchise, Pittsburgh's defense has grown grayer, creakier, and slow as ketchup from a bottle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2015
The town’s few remaining young people were less enamored with holding earth’s creakiest title.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2022
The 21-year-old, born Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., has these strangely piercing hazel eyes that, when he’s skeptical, can make you feel like the creakiest boomer alive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2020
But Wan has a gift for investing even the creakiest cliches with shivery élan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2016
In 1936, Hollywood staged one of its earliest – and creakiest – onscreen apocalypses in San Francisco, a melodrama about the city-leveling 1906 earthquake.
From The Guardian ● May 23, 2015
I lead the way, pointing to the creakiest steps so Fina will know to skip them.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
