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.

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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

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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

It screams as arms bearing the Japanese and US flags shove it onto a rickety karaoke stage set up in a boat.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Eventually, one too many social gaffes have stacked up into a rickety pile, and Joe can’t help but play the Big Bad Wolf.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

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

But her conceit that the Inter-Con’s trajectory can constitute, as the book’s subtitle asserts, “a people’s history of Afghanistan,” is rickety at best.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025

I watched him and his brother go up the rickety steps of their front porch and disappear inside the house, letting the screen door slam with a bang behind them.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

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