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

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Etymology

Origin of rickety

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

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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

Eventually, his friend Reggie Manuel persuaded him to attend, even giving him a lift on his rickety old motorbike.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

For me, that’s compounded by the fact that I don’t have air conditioning anywhere in the house but for a small, rickety wall unit in the bedroom — and only installed recently.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 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

America’s rickety electric grid is entering the hottest months of the year with a record-setting amount of new power generation—but plenty of problems.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Pong tracked Yai and Yord to a rickety table squeezed between two other vendors.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

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 Anthony Trollope

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Related Words

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

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