rickety

American  

[rik-i-tee] / ˈrɪk ɪ ti /

adjective

ricketier, ricketiest

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 British  

/ 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

---

Other Word Forms

• ricketiness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of rickety

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

Explanation

Something rickety — like an old shack — is shaky and likely to fall down because it's fragile. Some buildings are sturdy, solid, and strong. Others are rickety: rickety things might blow over from a slight breeze. Rickety things are poorly designed or have just become rickety because of aging. Rickety things tend to shake, which is a sign they might fall apart any second. If you put a heavy load in a rickety cart, you might lost your load!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rickety ricketier ricketiest

On Wednesday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei once again called for policymakers to "activate a slow and rickety policy apparatus to deal with risks and opportunities that are going to compound surprisingly quickly from here."

From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026

In November 1832, eight survivors of the sunken American whaleship Mentor set out into the Pacific Ocean in a pair of rickety boats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

Hopeless but hearty, the Lakers forged ahead Thursday, and still clung to a one-point lead midway through the third quarter when the rickety wheels came completely off.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

And it’s a much more rickety machine than it first appeared.

From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2025

A rickety train pulled up, so full that some people held on to the outside of the coaches, clutching at metal bars.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The evening’s ricketier segments involved Ms. LuPone and Mr. Patinkin’s headlong dive into the emotional thickets of two classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals: “South Pacific” and “Carousel.”

From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2011

Well, a big ship, an uncommonly bad sort of railway car, and the ricketiest little buggy that ever a man trusted his life to.

From Dr. Wortle's School by Trollope, Anthony

Related Words

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