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

Example Sentences

He writes, for example, that the guitarist James Blood Ulmer plays “shrill, disjointed fragments, nervous bits and rickety pieces tied together by a staggered but wryly swinging thematic sensibility.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“And it has to be wood. Avoid rickety metal ones that fall over. Noisy!”

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Salon

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

The stairs leading to the door are uneven and rickety, feeding into a porch that has six wicker chairs—five upright, and one kicked over.

From Literature

Related Words

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