shaky
Americanadjective
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tending to shake or tremble.
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trembling; tremulous.
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liable to break down or give way; insecure; not to be depended upon.
a shaky bridge.
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wavering, as in allegiance.
His loyalty, always shaky, was now nonexistent.
adjective
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tending to shake or tremble
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liable to prove defective; unreliable
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uncertain or questionable
your arguments are very shaky
Other Word Forms
- shakily adverb
- shakiness noun
Etymology
Origin of shaky
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.
The chipmaker’s earnings arrive in a market still shaky with AI jitters.
The broader market is shaky, with the S&P 500 flat for four months and challenges in software and semiconductors.
From Barron's
“Rowdy,” I whispered, in a shaky voice, “that’s an animal all right, but I’ve never laid eyes on anything that looked like that before, and I don’t like the looks of it.”
From Literature
A domestic corruption scandal has hobbled infrastructure spending, weakening investor and business confidence, which was already shaky due to U.S. tariffs, and contributed to growth slowing to a five-year low in 2025.
India's ultra-aggressive left-handed opening pair have failed to fire, leaving a shaky middle order to pick up the pieces.
From Barron's
Definitions 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.
