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The train system is "old and creaky and it's outdated," he admitted.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Those fell to the country’s creaky court system, where authorities have found numerous cases of corruption.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The most creaky veteran played with the most aggression.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026
There are creaky sections with various bits of percussion and tapped string overtones conveying an otherworldly Harry Partch-like texture, the sort of junkyard orchestra that inspired Tom Waits in the 1980s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
We had a dilapidated blue home with two stories, four bedrooms, and creaky stairs.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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
And as crazy as it sounds, as he gets older and creakier, Kershaw continues to live out the first words that are heard from the “Fun” song that has forever accompanied him to the mound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
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
A soft yet supportive backrest that is kind to even the creakiest back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
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
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
