shaky
Americanadjective
-
shakier,
comparative
-
shakiest
superlative
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tending to shake or tremble.
-
trembling; tremulous.
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liable to break down or give way; insecure; not to be depended upon.
a shaky bridge.
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of shaky
Explanation
Something shaky is trembling — or just feels like it. When we're not confident, we feel shaky. Being shaky is something that happens to us all. The first day of a job or class can make anyone feel shaky — even the teacher or boss. When you get extremely nervous, your hands might literally shake. That's not fun, but it might help you remember what shaky means. A building in an earthquake and a tree in the wind can also be shaky. One person we hope is not shaky — in either way — is a surgeon.
Vocabulary lists containing shaky
Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 3
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Feeling Faint: Synonyms for "Weak"
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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.
See Examples For:
"There had been some turbulence over Europe, and it had been shaky over the water, but it was around 10 hours into the flight when we encountered the main turbulence," Kitchen said.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Plus, buying a refurbished phone, OpenAI’s shaky finances, the $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet AI debt and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
But today’s 40% offers real income, alongside real shock absorption to shaky equity markets.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The central defensive partnership of Dujon Sterling and Emmanuel Fernandez looked particularly shaky.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The rest of the team was relieved, exhilarated, shaky with hope.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Nigeria's GDP is the fourth largest in Africa, but after years of mismanagement and corruption, its grid is often shakier than that of neighbouring, poorer countries.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
But he said they are shakier than in 2008.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
But UBS analysts said the company could try to give itself more flexibility for a wider range of outcomes in its financial forecast, due to the the leadership change and a shakier economic backdrop.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 5, 2026
The same could be said of Lesli Margherita’s Mrs. Lovett, the proprietor of a filthy and failing Fleet Street pie shop, but it’s a shakier case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
He always looked kind of nervous, but he appeared even shakier than usual.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
“OpenAI’s nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations,” Apple’s complaint said, accusing the AI lab of “a pattern of theft.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"OpenAI's nascent hardware business now rests on the shakiest of foundations, rotten to its core by its illegal reliance on misappropriated trade secrets," the complaint said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
That is one element of this which the committee is doubtless going to want to probe further, and perhaps where Sir Olly felt on shakiest ground.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Then came a 10-foot stretch in which you had to swing yourself between vertically hanging ropes, with only the shakiest of footing below.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
Morgan to buy it by offering a knockdown price and guaranteeing Bear Stearns’s shakiest assets.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
